Department for Transport

Channel Ferries

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what procurement process his Department used to contract (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries to provide extra roll-on roll-off ferry capacity.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I refer the Hon Member to my Rt Hon Friend's Written Statement of 7 January.

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to review the law governing the maximum power of undipped headlights on motor vehicles.

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to review the law on adding additional headlights to vehicles.

Jesse Norman: The maximum number and intensity of undipped headlamps fitted to new road vehicles in the UK must comply with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) vehicle approval regulations. Once a vehicle enters into service, national regulations allow the fitment of additional undipped headlamps but make it an offence to use headlamps in a manner that causes undue dazzle or discomfort to other road users. There are currently no plans to review the laws relating to the maximum power of undipped headlamps or the fitment of additional headlamps.

Dover Port: Customs

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the assessments that the Government has commissioned since the 2016 EU referendum on the effect of additional customs checks at Dover of the UK leaving the EU.

Chris Grayling: The Government aims to ensure that customs checks at Dover will not disrupt traffic flow, in part by ensuring that declarations are pre-lodged and that checks take place away from the frontier so far as possible. Details of customs checks are a matter for HM Treasury and HMRC.

Rolling Stock: Procurement

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has for the onward cascade and transfer of rolling stock between train operators in the event that there are delays to the delivery and introduction of new trains.

Andrew Jones: The Franchise Agreement has clauses to support the sensible cascade out of rolling stock if there is a delay in new trains. We would expect the current operators of the rolling stock to resolve satisfactorily in discussion with the owners and the future operators of the rolling stock.

Railways: Standards

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on performance of the number of new trains planned to be introduced across the rail network between 2019 and 2021.

Andrew Jones: New rolling stock will transform the passenger experience across the country. For example, on Northern and Transpennine Express, by 2020 all the trains will be brand new or completely refurbished, and all the Pacer trains will be gone. The East Anglia franchise will deliver over 1,000 new carriages, the West Midlands franchise will see over 400 new carriages, and South Western railways will deliver 750 new carriages. In their planning, operators consider the impact of new rolling stock and the growth in reliability as trains are first introduced. Work is underway in the industry to learn and share lessons on the introduction of new rolling stock.

Channel Ferries: Freight

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings his Department has held with freight operating companies on the potential need for additional freight services from Folkestone, Dover and other ports in the south of England.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department, individually and in conjunction with Border Delivery Group, has engaged in numerous discussions with freight operators about the outlook for freight traffic in the south of England.

Channel Ferries: Freight

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 7 January 2019, Haulage Update, HCWS 1233, whether he has received any representations from cross channel freight service companies other than those named in that statement (a) expressing concern at the content of that statement and (b) offering additional capacity over and above the three contract awards outlined in that statement; and if he will make a further statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We have received representations from other companies in confidence, and will provide further details in due course.

Dover Port: Road Traffic

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of traffic using the Port of Dover is commercial through traffic from the Republic of Ireland.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Information on the origin and route taken by vehicles using UK ferry ports is not held by the Department for Transport. Data for 2017 indicates that 1.25 million powered Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) travelled from the Port of Dover to Europe on roll-on roll-off ferries, of which 1% (15,000) were registered to the Republic of Ireland.

Cycling and Walking: Finance

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2019 to Question 205816 on walking, if he will provide a breakdown of the funding that is projected to be spent by his Department on (a) cycling and (b) walking in each year on each budget line from the start of this Parliament to 2021.

Jesse Norman: The Government’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS), published in April 2017, identified £1.2 billion of funding available for cycling and walking projects over the period 2016-21. Since then, additional funding streams have been made available, including the Transforming Cities Fund, Clean Air Fund, Future High Streets Fund and Housing Infrastructure Fund. As a result, almost £2bn of funding is now projected to be invested in cycling and walking projects between 2016/17 to 2020/21 from a range of funding programmes across Government. The Government response to the CWIS Safety Review, published in November 2018, gave further details, including a year by year breakdown of the funding projected for cycling and walking over the period to 2021. The Department is unable to provide a detailed breakdown of funding between cycling and walking projects because in some cases funding allocations are still to be confirmed by the relevant Government Department or local body, and in practice many projects support both cycling and walking. Further investment decisions will also be shaped by the forthcoming Spending Review.

Motorcycles: Accidents

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 6 of his Department's publication entitled Facts on motorcyclists casualties, published in June 2015, what the proportion is of (a) car drivers and (b) light van drivers whose contributory factor of their accidents involving motorcyclists was their failure to look properly in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Jesse Norman: The publication entitled Facts on Motorcyclist Casualties published in June 2015 provided information on the proportion of cars and light goods vehicles allocated the contributory factor ‘failed to look properly’ in accidents involving a motorcyclist casualty where a police officer attended the scene of the accident. These proportions for each year from 2013 to 2017 are presented in the table below. Since police officers do not always record a contributory factor when they attend a scene, we have also included data showing the proportion for those accidents where a contributory factor was recorded. This is the more commonly presented approach for contributory factors. Proportion of vehicles involved in accidents with at least one motorcycle casualty and police officer attending where 'Failed to look properly' contributory factor allocated, Great Britain, 2013 to 2017  As a proportion of all vehicles in these accidentsAs a proportion of all vehicles in these accidents where at least one contributory factor allocatedYearVehicle  2013Car47.4%49.0% Light goods vehicle46.8%47.5%2014Car47.8%49.2% Light goods vehicle48.8%49.6%2015Car48.6%50.3% Light goods vehicle45.9%47.3%2016Car45.7%47.0% Light goods vehicle46.2%47.3%2017Car40.0%40.9% Light goods vehicle37.7%38.4%   Source: DfT STATS19 Using this approach, the proportion of cars and light goods vehicles allocated the contributory factor ‘failed to look properly’ for the years 2009 to 2013 in the 2015 report would have been 48.1% and 48.2% respectively. Contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, however they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before allocating contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2019 to Question 205987 on High Speed 2, when he plans to publish the barn owl mitigation plan.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HS2 Ltd has been working closely with stakeholders and experts to develop the barn owl mitigation plan, which they plan to publish early this year.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) funding allocated by his Department for preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal and (b) proportion of that funding which has been allocated by ministerial direction; and for what functions that funding has been allocated.

Chris Grayling: The funding provided by HMT is in addition to my department’s efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU. We are required to achieve value for money as part of receiving these additional funds, in line with the guidance set out in Managing Public Money. My Department spent a total of £6.6m between 2016/17 and 2017/18 preparing for all EU Exit scenarios. We were allocated up to £76.8m for EU Exit preparations in this financial year for all scenarios and £15.8m of this funding has been spent so far. Bernadette Kelly, the accounting officer for the Department for Transport, sought a written ministerial direction on 7th February 2018 for expenditure on EU Exit preparations. The details can be found herehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-exit-preparations-dft-ministerial-direction. This covered activity related to the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill in advance of the relevant supporting legislation receiving Royal Assent. The Bill subsequently received Royal Assent on 19th July 2018 and is now an Act of Parliament.

Railways: Tickets

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the remit of the Rail Ombudsman to include oversight of train ticket selling platforms which are not operated by train operating companies.

Andrew Jones: The Rail Ombudsman is a voluntary scheme established by the franchised GB rail companies who are its members. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is currently consulting on making membership of the Rail Ombudsman scheme mandatory for all the rail companies to which it issues licences. Online train ticket selling platforms provided by members of the Rail Ombudsman scheme are already within the remit of the Ombudsman. However, online Third Party Retailers (such as the Trainline), which are not directly affiliated to Ombudsman scheme members, are not required to hold licences from the ORR and are not therefore within consideration for mandatory membership. Nevertheless, the Rail Delivery Group is currently in discussions with Third Party Retailers and their professional body (the Third Party Rail Retailers Association) to explore the possibility of them joining the Rail Ombudsman scheme in due course.

M180: Repairs and Maintenance

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for how long lane closures will be in place on the M180 east of Scunthorpe; for what reason those lane closures have been introduced; and why work is not being carried out on a 24-hour basis to reduce the length of lane closures.

Jesse Norman: The current lane closures are scheduled to be lifted in early February this year. These will be followed by further lane closures on the eastbound carriageway until early March 2019. The lane closures are in place as Highways England are replacing the safety barrier at various sites along this section of the M180. Highways England have removed the existing safety barriers, and have erected temporary barriers in place to protect the now exposed structures. Lane closures must remain on a 24-hour basis because it would be unsafe for Highways England to remove the temporary barriers while works continue. These closures are necessary to cover various work locations and enable more activity to take place across the whole site, so as to minimise the programme’s total duration and therefore reduce the overall disruption. Work takes place throughout the day; the overnight closures also allow for the concrete used on the foundations and ends of the new barriers to set.

Motorcycles: Accidents

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what conclusions the Road Collision Investigation Project has made on road accidents involving motorcyclists.

Jesse Norman: In June 2018, the Government announced that the RAC Foundation, supported by £480,000 of Government funding, would lead the trial of an innovative new approach to road casualty investigation alongside police forces. As part of this initiative dedicated teams will be carrying out in-depth research in selected cases to get a better understanding of what is really causing collisions on our roads. These collisions will be analysed in 3 regions over 3 years and will look at collisions covering a range of modes of travel, including motorbikes. The Government will release a final report at the end of the project.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Legal Costs

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the highest hourly rate paid for legal advice was by (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's arms length bodies in 2018.

Richard Harrington: This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Delivery Services: Self-employed

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the proportion of self-employed delivery drivers in London whose income is (a) equal to and (b) more than the National Living Wage.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government does not hold specific estimates in relation to the income of self-employed delivery drivers operating in London. The Government has published research on the experiences and characteristics of those participating within the gig economy, of which there is a high proportion providing delivery services. This can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gig-economy-research.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Written Statement of 18 December 2018 on Public Spending, HCWS 1205, if he will publish the budget headlines under which he plans to allocate the £190 million funding in relation to preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Richard Harrington: On the 18 December, my rt. hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury confirmed Departmental allocations for EU Exit funding for 2019/20 including £190 million for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The Department is undertaking an internal allocation process as part of 2019/20 planning. A full breakdown of 2019/20 allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS1205, made on 18 December 2018. Source: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/

Limited Liability: Company Accounts

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) Scottish, (b) English and (c) Northern Irish Partnerships have been prosecuted each year since 2009 under Section 15.6 of The Partnerships (Accounts) Regulations 2008, for failure to make their accounts available (a) to Companies House, (b) at their Principal Place of Business and (c) through mechanisms provided in other EEA countries.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Limited Liability: Company Accounts

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total contribution to the public purse has been from fines charged to (a) Scottish, (b) English and (c) Northern Irish Partnerships under Section 15.6 of The Partnerships (Accounts) Regulations 2008 for failure to make their accounts available either to Companies House, at their Principal Place of Business or through mechanisms provided in other EEA countries in each year from 2009.

Kelly Tolhurst: There has been no contribution to the public for fines charged to Scottish, English and Northern Irish Partnerships in each of the past three years, the latest years for which information is available, for failure to make their accounts available either to Companies House, at their Principal Place of Business or through mechanisms provided in other EEA countries..

Energy: Prices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2017 to Question 206232 on Energy: Prices, what estimate he has made of the total cost incurred by (a) the public purse and (b) other energy suppliers as a result of the transfer of customers of domestic energy suppliers who cease trading through the Supplier of Last Resort process in each year since 2010.

Claire Perry: A Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) appointed through a competitive process may make a claim to recover some of the costs they incur via an industry-wide levy. None of the levy costs are met by the public purse. The recovery of any tax arrears in an insolvency is a matter for the administrators and HMRC. The Department is not able to make estimates of the expected costs as a result of the SoLR process. The costs of an insolvency will depend on the circumstances of each case and variables such as the number of customers, the short term costs of ensuring they continue to be supplied with energy, the settlement of customer bills and the costs absorbed by the incoming supplier. It is for Ofgem, as the expert regulator, to scrutinise the costs in any levy claim and to consult with industry and interested parties before any decision is taken to use the levy.

Energy: Meters

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the upgrading of old SMETS1 meters so they have SMETS2 functionality, which types of SMETS1 meters will be enrolled into each phase of the upgrade programme; and which types of SMETS1 meters are not included in those plans.

Claire Perry: The Government expects all significant populations of SMETS1 meters to be enrolled into the national smart metering communications infrastructure run by the Data and Communications Company (DCC). The Government has put an obligation on energy suppliers to ensure that all consumers with a smart meter will retain smart services upon switching by the end of 2020.

Solar Power

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many solar-based projects were on the Renewal Energy Planning Database in each quarter of the last five years.

Claire Perry: Solar projects recorded on the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) in each quarter since 2014 are in the following table. Please note that the management of the REPD changed in October 2014 and the historical data for 2013 and 2014 Q1 is not available. As part of the new contract for administering the REPD at the start of Q4 2014, the data parameters were changed to increase the minimum installed capacity from 0.001MW to 1MW. Therefore, the data shown from Q4 2014 onwards includes only those schemes with an installed capacity 1MW or above until Q4 2018 when projects over 150kW started to be included.

Shops: Closures

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department holds statistics on the number of stores that closed in each quarter in each of the last five years.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

English Channel: Undocumented Migrants

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with French authorities on travel by migrants and asylum-seekers across the English Channel.

Sir Alan Duncan: FCO officials, in collaboration with other government departments – including Home Office (Border Force) and the National Crime Agency – are working closely with their French counterparts to tackle irregular migration. UK and French ministers have spoken about the issue of Channel crossings on a number of occasions, and senior level engagement is ongoing to develop a joint approach to the issue. The Home Secretary is due to meet his French counterpart in the coming weeks. The UK and France are committed to addressing illegal migration as set out in the Sandhurst Treaty and we are working jointly to stop the crossings by small boats and avoid loss of life.

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions has he had with his counterpart in (a) Morocco, (b) Algeria and (c) Libya about migrants and asylum-seekers crossing the Mediterranean.

Alistair Burt: The British Government is committed to tackling unmanaged migration through concerted interventions at every stage of the migrant journey to address root causes, tackle criminality and trafficking, increase awareness of the risks of undertaking perilous journeys, and strengthen borders and returns processes.I met Moroccan Deputy Foreign Minister, Mounia Boucetta, during the Intergovernmental Conference to endorse the Global Compact for Migration in Marrakech in December. We support Moroccan efforts to address the root causes of migration, as the most effective long-term solution to unmanaged, irregular migration, using development assistance.I have spoken with Noureddine Bedoui, the Algerian Minister of Interior about the challenges facing Algeria from migration.I have raised the importance of offering humanitarian support to migrants and the need to respect human rights with Ahmed Maiteeq, the Libyan Deputy Prime Minister.

China: North Korea

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the recent bilateral discussions with the North Korean leader.

Mark Field: ​The Foreign Secretary speaks to his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on a regular basis. The UK has repeatedly urged China to enforce sanctions on North Korea with rigour and to use its influence to press Kim Jong Un to take concrete actions to denuclearise. We will continue to engage with China on North Korea as negotiations between the US and DPRK progress.

Kenya: Politics and Government

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Kenya; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: I would like to echo the Prime Minister’s comments to the House on Wednesday 16 January in offering my deepest condolences to President Kenyatta, the people of Kenya and all those affected by this terrible attack. We frequently review our assessment of the safety and security of British nationals, and did so directly after the terrorist attack in Nairobi on Tuesday. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office uses Travel Advice to help British nationals understand the risks within a country. No country is free from the risk of terrorism. As we state in our Travel Advice, terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Kenya. This was our advice before the attack and remains unchanged. We have a well established relationship with the Kenyan Government on Counter Terrorism and we will continue to work closely with them to tackle the threat from terrorism in the region.

Nigeria: Armed Conflict

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the strategic implications of the increased strength of armed insurgents in north-east Nigeria; and what support his Department is providing to Nigeria to tackle the insurgents.

Harriett Baldwin: We are concerned by the recent increase in terrorist activity in northeast Nigeria and strongly condemn all attacks. Insecurity is placing humanitarian operations under pressure and risks cutting off lifesaving support for up to 120,000 people in need of assistance. We are exploring options for additional support to help the Nigerian Government tackle this terrorist threat.The UK provides a substantial package of security, humanitarian and development support, which includes training and capacity building for Nigerian armed forces. We recently formalised our assistance through a Security and Defence Partnership, signed during the Prime Minister's visit in August.

India: Demolition

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Indian Government on the demolition of the homes of British and EU citizens in Daman, India.

Mark Field: Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. I have asked our officials in the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai to investigate further and will update you in due course. ​

United Nations: Sexual Offences

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with United Nations representatives on the recent findings of a report from that organisation that one third of UN staff and contractors have experienced sexual harassment in the last two years.

Mark Field: The UK has been anticipating this report and is deeply concerned by its findings. Whilst the UK welcomes the UN Secretary General's initial response, we urge the UN to increase its efforts to tackle sexual harassment and will look for the earliest opportunity to discuss this with them. The Foreign and Development Secretaries raised the issue of sexual harassment with the UN Secretary-General last December and the Minister for the Commonwealth and the UN discussed the issue with the Under Secretary-General Head of the UN Task Force on Sexual Harassment in October. Senior officials have also been in regular contact with senior United Nations representatives to push for action to tackle these issues.

Laurent Gbagbo

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the acquittal of Laurent Gbagbo on the efforts of the International Criminal Court to enforce human rights standards.

Mark Field: On 15 January, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trial Chamber, by majority acquitted Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé of all charges. These judgments have been reached following an independent and impartial judicial process. Our thoughts are with the victims of violence in Cote d'Ivoire and their families. The UK government firmly believes that those who have perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity should be held fully accountable. The ICC can play an important role in ending impunity for the most serious international crimes. It has our full support in pursuing the mandate it was given under ICC Statute.

Omar al-Bashir

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of UK allies that have failed to comply with the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir as a result of him being allowed through their territory since 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government's policy remains to encourage states to comply with their international legal obligations to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC), in particular with respect to the execution of ICC arrest warrants. We pursue this policy through a range of fora, including the Security Council, but note that any action by the Security Council requires the agreement of its permanent members. We do not have an estimate of countries that have failed to comply with the ICC in the case of Omar al-Bashir.

Zimbabwe: Trade Unions

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Zimbabwean counterpart on that country's obligations under international human rights and international law in relation to the treatment of independent Trades Unions.

Harriett Baldwin: I summoned the Zimbabwean Ambassador on 17 January to highlight our concern at the ongoing situation in Zimbabwe.I call on the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure its security forces act professionally, proportionately and at all times with respect for human life and constitutional rights. We further call on the Government of Zimbabwe to investigate all allegations of human rights violations and abuses. We also urge the reinstatement of full internet access, consistent with citizens' constitutional right to freedom of expression.

Department of Health and Social Care

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the additional 345,00 children and young people with mental health problems expected to be accessing support from (a) NHS funded mental health services and (b) school or college-based mental health support teams as set out in the long-term plan for the NHS.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to proposals in the NHS Long Term Plan on expanding access to community-based mental health services, how many of the additional 345,000 children and young people expected to be accessing support via NHS funded mental health services and school or college-based Mental Health Support Teams are expected to be (a) 0-5, (b) 6-18 and, (c) 19-25 years old.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We expect that the majority of the 345,000 additional children and young people will access support via Mental Health Support Teams as these will provide brand new services, situated in schools and colleges and are intended to offer earlier help and intervention. We anticipate that many of the 345,000 additional children and young people will be of statutory education age i.e. aged between 5-18. However, given that Mental Health Support Teams will operate in and around primary schools and further education colleges, some at the younger and older end are likely to be outside of this group. The NHS Long Term Plan also highlights that the structure of mental health services often creates gaps for young people undergoing the transition from children and young people’s mental health services to appropriate support including adult mental health services. To address this, NHS England has committed to extend current service models to create a comprehensive offer for 0-25 year olds that reaches across mental health services for children, young people and adults. The detailed implementation plan noted on page 10 of the Long Term Plan will contain more details on the roll-out of additional Children and Young People’s Mental Health services.

Influenza

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help the NHS minimise the risk of a winter crisis as a result of flu-related hospital admissions.

Stephen Hammond: The latest data from Public Health England indicates that the impact of flu on healthcare services is at moderate impact levels for hospitalisations. Their weekly reports are published on the GOV.UK website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/weekly-national-flu-reports-2018-to-2019-season Each flu season is different, but this is below the impact level seen at the same time last year. As part of winter planning the Government has ensured all eligible groups are offered the most effective vaccines for their cohort. So far, the main circulating flu strain is well matched to the strains in the vaccines for this season. Departmental Ministers meet weekly with systems leaders in the National Health Service to ensure that services are equipped for winter to support those who need them. In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to monitor NHS performance daily. They are supporting hospitals nationally and, working with regional teams, will maintain a close grip and oversight during winter of their performance. Additionally, the Government has provided over £420 million for winter including:- £145 million capital funding to hospitals for winter improvements - to upgrade wards and redevelop accident and emergency departments;- £36.3 million has been invested into the ambulance services for new vehicles and ‘make-ready hubs’; and- £240 million for adult social care – allowing councils to plan to provide care for 40,000 more people.

Influenza: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the NHS meets its flu immunisation targets for at-risk groups this winter.

Steve Brine: Those most at risk from flu including people over 65, pregnant women, and those in clinical risk groups are offered annual vaccination. This year, more effective vaccines are being offered, an adjuvanted vaccine to over 65s and a quadrivalent one for those under 65. A Public Health England and NHS England marketing campaign Help Us Help You was launched in October 2018 to encourage flu vaccination in all eligible groups. NHS England commissioned additional media activity from 19 November, including television, commercial radio and national and regional press advertising targeted at those aged 65 and over, to promote further uptake of flu vaccination. At the same time all NHS England regional teams drove media coverage in local print and on regional broadcast media. As part of its assurance process NHS England has been working through its regional teams and clinical commissioning groups to ensure that practices with lowest uptake are contacted and action is taken to increase vaccination rates.

Influenza: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase flu vaccination coverage rates throughout the UK.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) has worked in partnership with NHS England to promote the ‘Help Us Help You’ campaign to encourage flu vaccination in England. The campaign is targeted at pregnant women, children, and those with long term health conditions. It launched on 8 October 2018 and ran until 31 October and consisted of television, radio and social advertising supported by public relations, digital search and partnership activity. Flu vaccination for health and social care workers has been supported by the ‘Flu Fighter’ campaign led by NHS Employers. PHE undertakes proactive media activity to promote flu vaccination during the vaccination period. This season, this has included activity to promote the newly available adjuvanted vaccine for those aged 65 and over.

Influenza: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase take-up rates for the flu vaccination by (a) healthcare professionals; (b) at-risk patient groups and (c) paid and unpaid carers.

Steve Brine: Frontline healthcare workers are offered flu vaccination by their employer, with a financial incentive for National Health Service trusts to achieve high uptake through a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) target. This year, the ambition is that 100% of staff are vaccinated with those who decline asked to sign an anonymised opt out form stating the reason. Staff who work in high risk areas must confirm their vaccination status to senior management. At risk patients are targeted by the Public Health England and NHS England marketing campaign, Help Us Help You, which includes television, radio and social advertising supported by public relations, digital search and partnership activity. They can get their vaccine from their general practitioner (GP) practice or pharmacy, as can unpaid carers. In addition to occupational health schemes in place locally, frontline social care workers who work directly with vulnerable clients are eligible to receive flu vaccine from their GP practice or pharmacy in a scheme funded by NHS England.

Emigration: Children

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Question 202774 on Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry, what future support his Department plans to provide to the Family Restoration Fund for former child migrants

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the closure of the Family Restoration Fund for former child migrants.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On 19 December the Government published its response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Interim Report and its report on Child Migration Programmes. The response states that the Government will establish an ex-gratia payment scheme and will ensure that former child migrants receive a payment as soon as possible, in recognition of the fundamentally flawed nature of the historic child migration policy. Further details will be provided shortly. The Government response also recognised that the Family Restoration Fund provides a valuable service and stated that the Government will continue the Fund until the end of the current scheme, by which time the Fund will have provided over £8 million to support reunions, over more than a decade. Beyond this future funding decisions will be a matter for the upcoming spending review.

NHS: Members' Constituency Work

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue instruction to NHS England that signed authority from a patient is not required for the NHS to progress an inquiry from an hon. Member pursuing a case on behalf of a constituent; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Ministers were consulted by NHS England before they advised health bodies to request a signed authority from an honourable Member acting on behalf of a constituent; and for what reason that policy on this matter has been changed.

Caroline Dinenage: There has been no change in policy with regards to obtaining consent of a patient for the purposes of an inquiry or investigation and therefore Ministers have not been consulted. If a National Health Service body is to disclose patient information held by it in order to progress an inquiry from a hon. Member, it must obtain the consent of the patient before doing so. An inquiry or an investigation will almost certainly require the disclosure by the NHS body of information relating to the constituent as patient. The NHS body must be content that there is a legal basis under the General Data Protection Regulation/Data Protection Act for processing patient information (i.e. disclosing and sharing it for the purposes of the investigation). This is easier to satisfy if it is clear the patient has consented to the hon. Member making investigations on their behalf.

British Nationals Abroad: Health Services

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which EU member states have indicated that UK citizens living in those countries would continue to be able to access local health services in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: We want to secure reciprocal arrangements in a ‘no deal’ exit, so that no-one faces sudden changes to how they obtain healthcare. The United Kingdom has made a generous unilateral offer to European Union citizens resident in the UK; through the EU settlement scheme, they will be able to work, study, and access benefits and services on broadly the same terms as now. We believe Member States have responsibilities and a duty of care towards UK nationals and are urging the EU and all its Member States to make the same commitment to protect the rights of UK nationals in the EU. The Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill will give the Government the power to fund and arrange payments for healthcare for UK nationals (or former residents) outside of the UK, as well as to share the necessary data in relation to this. This will enable the Government to work to ensure reciprocal healthcare arrangements continue when we leave the EU, whether through arrangements with the EU as a whole or, individual arrangements with EU Member States. The UK and Irish Governments have both set out their firm intention to maintain current reciprocal access to local health services under the Common Travel Area framework, and work on this is at an advanced stage. We have informally approached other Member States and are prioritising those that are the major pensioner, worker and tourist destinations. We will shortly be writing to all EU Member States, along with the EU Commission, formally outlining our generous offer on reciprocal healthcare. This will be subject to ongoing discussions.

Influenza: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment the Government has made of why uptake rates in groups eligible for free flu vaccination remain low.

Steve Brine: England has one of the highest flu vaccine uptake rates in Europe. Most years, for those aged 65 and above, uptake is close to the World Health Organization (WHO) target of 75%. There is normally only a short window in which to vaccinate between the vaccine becoming available and the flu season commencing. This year, the phased delivery of the adjuvanted vaccine for older people meant that some flu clinics had to be delayed until sufficient vaccine was available. The majority of flu vaccination has now taken place. Vaccine uptake is at similar levels to previous years for older people and pregnant women. For those in clinical risk groups it is marginally lower. There are many reasons for this including that many patients do not appreciate how serious flu can be and the importance of protecting themselves, with some women wary of having a vaccine whilst pregnant. For two and three year olds it is at the highest level since the programme started. This data can be viewed at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/weekly-national-flu-reports-2018-to-2019-season

NHS: ICT

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to reduce patient notification errors due to NHS bodies having different communication systems.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are committed to creating a technology infrastructure that allows systems to communicate securely, using open standards for data and interoperability. This will enable health and care professionals to have access to the information they need to provide care. Effective technology supported by interoperability can reduce patient safety errors. Interoperability and openness is one of the guiding principles set out in, ‘The future of healthcare: our vision for digital, data and technology in health and care’, published on 17 October 2018. We are also investing in the development of Local Health and Care Record Exemplars (LHCRs). These will allow local areas to ensure data is collected consistently and made available to support joined up and safer patient care. LHCRs will give health and care staff better and faster access to vital information about the person in their care as patients move between different parts of the National Health Service and social care system. The first five Exemplars cover 23.5 million people and will each receive up to £7.5 million over two years.

Health Services: Hearing Impairment

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has undertaken to ensure that health services such as access to continuing healthcare plans are available to people with hearing impairments or profound deafness.

Caroline Dinenage: It is the responsibility of local providers and commissioners of NHS services to make the reasonable adjustments required by the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that disabled people, including those with hearing impairments, are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. Additionally, under the NHS Constitution, National Health Service organisations in England are required to provide high quality comprehensive services, based on clinical need, which do not discriminate between patients on the basis of disability, including hearing impairments. NHS Continuing Healthcare is a package of care that is arranged and funded solely by the NHS. It is provided when an individual aged 18 or over has been found to have a ‘primary health need’ as set out in the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care.

General Practitioners

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of full-time practising GPs in (a) Hull clinical commissioning group, (b) the Yorkshire and the Humber NHS England North regional team area and (c) England in each of the last eight years for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: The attached tables provide the number of general practitioner (GPs) practicing full-time in Hull Clinical Commissioning Group, the Yorkshire and the Humber NHS England North regional team area and in England in the years 2015-18. We do not have data for the preceding four years. Figures for the total number of GPs by headcount and by full-time equivalent are also provided for the purpose of comparison.



PQ209307 attached tables
(Word Document, 23.56 KB)

Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of Persistent Genital Arousal Syndrome (PGAS) have been recorded in each of the last five years; and how many PGAS specialists are currently practising in England.

Steve Brine: This information is not held centrally.

Sunbeds

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations of the World Health Organization report, Artificial tanning devices: public health interventions to manage sunbeds, published in 2017.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) contributed to the revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) report, ‘Artificial tanning devices: public health interventions to manage sunbeds’. The recommendations in the report are in line with PHE advice and the recommendations of the 13th report of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE). The full COMARE report is available to view at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/comare-13th-report

Wales Office

Wales Office: Brexit

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much money his Department has allocated for preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal to date; how much of that funding has been made by way of ministerial direction; and for what functions that funding has been allocated.

Nigel Adams: Work to prepare for a successful EU exit is a key priority for the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales. The work is funded from the Office’s £4.6 million budget for 2018-19. In addition, the Office was allocated £0.3 million in EU exit funding for this financial year. None of this funding has been made by Ministerial direction. The Office holds no information on allocation of funding for leaving the EU without a deal. Work on deal exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other EU exit and devolution work.

Wylfa Power Station

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with (a) ministerial colleagues, (b) his counterpart in the Japanese Government, and (c) representatives of Hitachi on the future of the proposed Wylfa Newydd power plant.

Alun Cairns: I have had regular discussions with my ministerial colleagues, Hitachi, Horizon Nuclear Power and the Japanese Government regarding the proposed Wylfa Newydd power plant, as well as visiting senior executives of Hitachi in Tokyo in August 2017. I recently met with the Japanese Prime Minister and representatives of Hitachi at Downing Street last week. We fully recognise that Hitachi’s decision will be a disappointment to people in Anglesey and North Wales, especially given the efforts of many stakeholders to support this project. The UK Government continues to discuss options for Hitachi and others to take the project forward.

Department for Education

Department of Education: Brexit

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money his Department has allocated for preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal to date; how much of that funding has been made by way of ministerial direction; and for what functions that funding has been allocated.

Anne Milton: Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and the Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as: £412 million of additional funding over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office at Autumn Statement 2016. £286 million of additional funding for 2017/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 2017/18 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf.) Over £1.5 billion of additional funding for 2018/19. A full breakdown of which can be found in my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury's Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on the 13 March (available at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/.) Over £2 billion of additional funding for 2019/20. A full breakdown of the allocations can be found in my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury's Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS1205, laid on the 18 December (available at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/.)

Social Services: Children

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to tackle the increase in demand for children's social care in (a) London and (b) England.

Nadhim Zahawi: Across government, we are tackling the problems that cause children to be in need in the first place. This includes better supporting those with alcohol-dependent parents and the introduction of landmark legislation for those affected by domestic abuse, preventing young people being drawn into serious violence. The government have also provided unprecedented investment in early years education, support for children and young people’s mental health and the Troubled Families programme to achieve improvement for families with multiple, high-cost problems.At Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor announced an extra £410 million to address pressures on adult and children social care services. This builds on the £200 billion government has already made available to councils up to 2020 to provide services in the best interests of local residents, including those for children and young people.My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor also announced at Autumn Budget £84 million over 5 years to support up to 20 local authorities to improve their social work practice and decision-making, enabling them to work more effectively with the most vulnerable children and their families. This is in addition to the almost £270 million the Department for Education has invested in our Innovation and Improvement programmes since 2014. There have been over 25 programmes in local authorities in London and over 90 in local authorities across England to help innovate and re-design service delivery to achieve higher quality.

Apprentices: Autism

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help employers to ensure that apprenticeships provide an effective route into permanent employment for adults diagnosed with autism.

Anne Milton: We are improving access to apprenticeships for people with learning difficulties or disabilities. For example, we have introduced legislation which allows the minimum English and maths requirements for apprenticeships to be adjusted to entry level 3 for a defined group of people with a learning difficulty or disability. This change will allow more people to benefit from the opportunities available through apprenticeships and work.Our Pacesetter project is working with local partners to test our policy approaches and deliver tangible progress towards growing numbers of apprentices with learning difficulties or disabilities. Pacesetters include councils, a school and the learning disability charity Mencap, who have themselves hired a number of apprentices with learning difficulties or disabilities.The Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network has been developed to provide insight and guidance on best practice in how to make sure that apprenticeships are undertaken by people from a diverse range of backgrounds, and all members make a commitment themselves to increasing diversity when they join. The network aims to inspire and influence the behaviour of other employers to attract, recruit and support more people from underrepresented groups into apprenticeships. This includes people with disabilities, people who identify as LGBT+, women in science, technology, engineering and maths and members of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. For example, Health Education England, working with members including Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, have a supported apprenticeship scheme focussing particularly on learners with autism. The National Autistic Society has been invited to attend the network’s next meeting.Our funding system is intended to encourage the take-up and likely completion of apprenticeships by particular groups, including people with learning difficulties or disabilities. The system is also intended to recognise where additional support is necessary, through extra funding where the costs of supporting an apprentice are higher, and making sure that these costs are met by government and not by the employer.Our communications and guidance products aim to encourage employers to hire apprentices with a learning difficulty or disability and to demonstrate to people with learning difficulties or disabilities, such as autism, that apprenticeships are an option for them.We have integrated the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident campaign into the apprenticeship recruitment service so that the Disability Confident logo is displayed on apprenticeship vacancies for campaign-registered employers.

Work Experience: Autism

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the supported internships scheme in helping young people diagnosed with autism achieve sustainable paid employment.

Nadhim Zahawi: Supported internships offer young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities a clear pathway into employment.A Department for Education led trial of supported internships in 2012 to 2013 was formally evaluated and found that of the 190 young people who completed a supported internship and participated in the research, 36% gained paid employment, including apprenticeships (5%).Good practice examples of supported internships are also gathered by our delivery partner, the National Development Team for Inclusion, and published on the Preparing for Adulthood website.We are keen to do more to increase the uptake of supported internships and are considering how we can build the evidence base further.

Special Educational Needs: Overcrowding

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effects of overcrowded living conditions on children with special educational needs.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has not made any assessment of the effects of overcrowded living conditions on children with special educational needs.The government is committed to reducing overcrowding by increasing the supply of affordable housing and enabling social landlords to make better use of their stock.Through our affordable homes programme, we are making available £9 billion to March 2022 to deliver 250,000 new affordable homes of a wide range of tenures. Since 2010, we have delivered over 407,000 new affordable homes, including over 293,000 affordable homes for rent.Through the Localism Act (2011) we have retained the statutory reasonable preference requirements that ensure that overcrowded households receive priority for social housing and introduced fixed term tenancies to make it easier for social landlords to manage their existing stock to reduce overcrowding.In 2011, we introduced a national mutual exchange scheme, HomeSwap Direct, to make it easier for under-occupying and overcrowded households to help each other.

Pupils: Mental Health Services

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to provide counselling for students in schools.

Nick Gibb: School based counselling by well-qualified practitioners can play an effective role as part of a ‘whole school’ approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing. The Department’s England-wide representative survey of school provision, published in 2017, indicated that 61% of schools offer counselling services, with 84% of secondary schools providing their pupils with access to counselling support. To support more schools to do so, the Government has provided advice on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling, available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools. NHS England will fund new mental health support teams, working in schools and colleges, which will be rolled out to between one fifth and a quarter of England by the end of 2023. This will start with 25 trailblazer areas which will be fully operational by the end of 2019. Next steps for this roll out are being considered as part of the NHS long term plan, published on 7 January, and will be informed by the evaluation of the initial trailblazers. These new teams should work closely with services which are already being provided in local areas, including other professionals who work closely with schools and colleges, such as school counsellors.

Special Educational Needs

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help provide classes for students with special needs in the schools of their choice.

Nadhim Zahawi: In England, the Children and Families Act 2014, the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Regulations 2014 and SEND Code of Practice make clear that all schools should use their best endeavours to meet the needs of all children with a special educational need. The Children and Families Act requires local authorities to keep the provision for children with SEND under review, including its sufficiency, and to publish a local offer, outlining the services available in their local area for children and young people with SEND.We have announced that local authorities will receive an additional £250 million over the next two years on top of the £6 billion already provided for the high needs budget this year, to provide much needed support for children and young people with complex SEND. Families will also benefit from more choice for their child’s education through an extra £100 million for facilities and places; taking our total capital investment from 2018 to 2021 to £365 million. This funding will improve facilities and create more specialist places in mainstream schools, colleges and special schools, giving more children and young people access to a good school or college place that meets their individual needs.

Students: Apprentices

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have taken up apprenticeships in each region in each of the last three years.

Anne Milton: The department collects apprenticeships data for England. The attached table shows the number of apprenticeship starts in each English region in each of the last three years.



208283_table_of_apprenticeship_starts_in_England
(Word Document, 61.5 KB)

GCSE

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students did not get a grade 9-4 in their GCSE results in the 2017-18 academic year.

Nick Gibb: In 2018, pupils sat a combination of the 23 reformed GCSEs graded on a 9-1 scale and the remaining legacy GCSEs graded on an A*-G scale. The bottom of grade 4 is aligned with the bottom of grade C, so a grade 4 or above marks a similar achievement to the old grade C or above. The number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018 who did not achieve any grades A*-C/9-4 across all their GCSE and equivalent subject entries[1], [2] are as follows:  Pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018 who did not achieve any grades A*-C/9-4 across all their GCSE and equivalent subject entriesType of schoolTotal number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4Total number  of pupils not  achieving grades  A*-C or 9-4[3]Percentage pupils not achieving grades A*-C or 9-4 (%)All schools[4]585,37794,43616.1State-funded school523,75776,16814.5   [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2017-to-2018-provisional.[2] Cambridge International Certificates and Edexcel Level 1/2 Certificates were classed as GCSE equivalent awards in 2017/18. If GCSE equivalents were excluded from the analysis, the number not achieving any 9-4/A*-C passes would go up by 283 in all schools, and 121 in state funded schools.[3] From 2017, new reformed GCSEs in English language, English literature and mathematics are graded using a new 9-1 scale. Unreformed subjects continue to be graded using the A* to G system. See the statistical first release (SFR) ‘Quality and methodology’ document for further information.[4] Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once and only one entry is counted in these circumstances. Only the first entry is counted, in all subjects, in line with the early entry guidance (see SFR 'Quality and Methodology' document).

Social Services: Children and Young People

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much central government funding was allocated to local authority children and young people’s services in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018; and what proportion of that funding was allocated to early help services in each of those years.

Nadhim Zahawi: As children’s services are delivered through local government, the vast majority of their funding comes through the local government finance settlement (LGFS).Over the 5 year period from 2015-16 to 2019-20, councils have access, through the LGFS, to over £200 billion to deliver local services. This core spending power, £43.7 billion in 2016-17, £44.3 billion in 2017-18 and £45.1 billion in 2018-19, is un-ring fenced and it is for local authorities to determine spend across different areas according to local priorities, including children’s and early help services.In addition to this the Autumn Budget announced a further £410 million in 2019-20 for local authorities to invest in adult and children’s social care services. It also announced £84 million of extra funding, over the next 5 years, to support local authorities to invest in initiatives that improve social work practice and decision making.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the recommendations in the November 2018 report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Students entitled A Sustainable future for international students in the UK, what plans his Department has to set an international student growth strategy focused on recruitment and student experience.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the number of international students choosing to study in the UK grows over the next 10 years.

Chris Skidmore: The government fully recognises the important economic and cultural contribution that EU and international students make to the UK’s higher education sector. The government welcomes international students and there continues to be no limit on the number who can come here to study, and there are no plans to limit any institution’s ability to recruit them. The UK remains a highly attractive destination for non-EU students with their numbers remaining at record highs, with over 170,000 non-EU entrants to UK higher education institutions for the seventh year running. The UK is a world-leading destination for study, with four universities in the world’s top 10 and 16 in the top 100 – second only to the USA. The government actively promotes study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and to over 100 countries through the British Council. In the Immigration White Paper, published on 19 December 2018, the government proposed to increase the post-study leave period for international students following completion of studies to 12 months for those completing a PhD, and to six months for all full-time postgraduate students and undergraduate students at institutions with degree awarding powers. Going beyond the recommendations set out by the Migration Advisory Committee, these proposals will benefit tens of thousands of international students.

Children and Young People: Mental Health Services

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of any additional resources required to deliver an integrated care approach for 0-25 year olds with mental health problems across health, social care, education and the voluntary sector as outlined in the the NHS long-term plan.

Nick Gibb: The Government is taking steps to support greater integration of care to make the best use of existing resources, including the significant additional funding for children and young people’s mental health that NHS England will make available under its Long Term Plan.The Government has already introduced requirements under special educational needs and disability (SEND) legislation for joint commissioning across education, health and social care. The Department and NHS England ran a training pilot designed to build links between schools and colleges and NHS services, which will be rolled out across England starting later this year. The Department is coordinating work with the higher education sector to improve support for students as they move to university.The priority given to 0-25 mental health services under the Long Term Plan has the potential to support this work. In particular, it can allow greater continuity of support for vulnerable children for whom other support already extends beyond 18, and for university students.Local decision making is important to ensure this change supports the effective use of resources. The additional £1.4 billion made available to develop capacity and capability across the system from 2015-20 has already started to result in increased provision. The funding is linked to local transformation plans, drawn up by clinical commissioning groups with other local partners, which are intended to cover the all provision from prevention to specialist services.The introduction of new mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges will be an important part of developing collaboration between education and health services. These teams will be based in and near schools and colleges and make links to other services, including social care and the voluntary sector. The first 25 trailblazer areas will be fully operational by the end of 2019.

School Leaving: Food Technology

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of students leaving secondary education with a knowledge of basic cooking skills.

Nick Gibb: Cooking and nutrition are taught as part of the design and technology programme of study for Key Stage 1 to 3 in the national curriculum, which is compulsory for maintained schools and can be used as a benchmark by academies and free schools.Within the programme, pupils are taught about food and nutrition and how to cook a range of healthy and nutritious dishes. They are equipped with knowledge about healthy eating, what is meant by a balanced diet, and how to feed themselves and others affordably and well both now and in the future.In September 2016, the Government also introduced a new GCSE in Food Preparation and Nutrition. The new GCSE enables pupils to acquire a proper understanding of the scientific principles behind food and nutrition, and use a number of practical techniques to prepare and cook food.

Carers: Children

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the siblings of children with life threatening and terminal conditions are identified as young carers.

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding the Government provides to support the siblings of children with palliative care needs who meet the definition of being young carers.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government is committed to supporting young carers - to improve their health and wellbeing, and to protect them from excessive or inappropriate caring responsibilities. Since April 2015, all young carers are entitled to an assessment of their needs for support, under Section 17 of the Children Act (1989).The ‘carers action plan’, a two-year programme of tailored work to support unpaid carers of all ages, aims to improve the identification of young carers; improving their educational opportunities and outcomes; providing support to young carers, particularly to vulnerable children; and improving access to services. The plan can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carers-action-plan-2018-to-2020.In December 2016 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published the guidelines ‘End of life care for infants, children and young people with life-limiting conditions: planning and management’. The guidance emphasises the need to be aware that siblings will need support to cope with: their brother's or sister's condition and death, and the effects of their parents' or carers' grieving. This may include social, practical, psychological and spiritual support. The guidance can be viewed here: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng61.The Department for Education provides schools with £2.4 billion each year in additional funding through the pupil premium to support disadvantaged pupils; each eligible pupil attracts £1,320 to primary schools and £935 to secondary schools. Eligibility for the pupil premium is based largely on current or past claims for free school meals. Some research with young carers aged 14 to 16 suggested that around 60% already attract the pupil premium through their eligibility for free school meals.We expect schools to make effective use of their pupil premium and do not tell them how to use it - schools know their pupils best and will spend the grant to meet pupil needs, which may include needs arising from a caring role. Schools are held to account for their pupil premium use through school inspection and information in performance tables, and most schools are required to publish details about their pupil premium strategy and its impact.

Primary Schools: Sports

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to primary schools seeking to achieve the goals set out for the PE and Sports Premium who wish to use that premium to buy equipment.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education’s full guidance for the use of PE and Sport Premium can be viewed online at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pe-and-sport-premium-for-primary-schools.The guidance is clear that primary schools have considerable freedom to use the PE and Sport Premium in the way which will best meet the needs of their pupils. It cannot be used to fund capital expenditure, but the department does not set the capitalisation policy for each school. School business managers, school accountants and their auditors are best placed to advise on school’s agreed capitalisation policy, and how it relates to the purchase of sport equipment.

Adult Education

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2019 to Question 207155 on Adult Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase participation rates in adult education courses.

Anne Milton: For the 2018/19 academic year, we will be supporting those in work on low incomes to access the Adult Education Budget (AEB) through the introduction of a new one-year trial which allows providers to fully fund eligible learners on low wages. This will directly support social mobility by enabling those that have been motivated to move out of unemployment and are low paid/skilled, to further progress. Early results suggest that this is attracting new/additional learners and we are reviewing whether it will be extended to cover the 2019/20 academic year. Community Learning plays a vital role within AEB provision, it provides an accessible way of progressing to further learning, training or employment and is mainly non-formal non-accredited learning which supports access to further adult education, particularly for disadvantaged adult learners. It is funded in a way that enables providers to meet the needs of disadvantaged learners; for example, by running smaller classes, by responding quickly to local needs, by offering more intensive support, and by holding classes in community venues, such as community centres, schools and libraries. This encourages adult learners, who may not be suited to more formal learning at this point in their lives, to participate in community and family learning and begin their learning journey. We also provide full funding for learners who need English and Maths skills to undertake a range of courses in GCSEs, Functional Skills and stepping stone qualifications from entry level to level 2. From 2020, selected basic digital skills courses will also be fully funded. From 2019/20 academic year, approximately 50% of the AEB will be devolved to 6 Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Tees Valley, West Midlands, West of England) and delegated to the Greater London Authority (GLA). The MCAs and GLA will be responsible for commissioning and funding AEB provision for learners resident in their areas. However, they must ensure access and funding for the statutory entitlements, including the new digital entitlement, to enable eligible learners to be fully funded. The Education and Skills Funding Agency will be responsible for funding learners resident in non-devolved areas. We are also introducing the National Retraining Scheme, which is an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult learning and retraining. It will help people respond to changes in the economy and support them to progress in work, redirect their careers and secure the higher-paid, higher-skilled jobs of the future, focusing on those individuals that need it most. To inform the design of the scheme, the Flexible Learning Fund is supporting 31 pilot projects across England with a total value of £11.4 million. The projects are designing and testing innovative, flexible learning that is easy to access, and the best ways to reach working adults and incentivise them to train. Apprenticeships benefit people of all ages and backgrounds such as people with children returning to part-time work and needing to re-train. 41% of starts in 2017/18 have been by those aged 25 and over.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Ross Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to develop an international student growth strategy.

Chris Skidmore: The government fully recognises the important economic and cultural contribution that EU and international students make to the UK’s higher education sector. We want that contribution to continue and are confident – given the world class quality of our higher education sector – that it will. We welcome international students and there continues to be no limit on the number who can come here to study, nor any plans to limit any institution’s ability to recruit them. The UK remains a highly attractive destination for non-EU students, with their numbers remaining at record highs – over 170,000 non-EU entrants to UK higher education institutions for the seventh year running. The UK is a world-leading destination for study, with 4 universities in the world’s top 10 and 16 in the top 100 – second only to the USA. We actively promote study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and to over 100 countries through the British Council. In the immigration white paper, published on 19 December 2018, the government proposed to increase the post-study leave period for international students following completion of studies to 12 months for those completing a PhD, and to 6 months for all full-time postgraduate students and undergraduate students at institutions with degree awarding powers. Going beyond the recommendations set out by the Migration Advisory Committee, these proposals will benefit tens of thousands of international students.

Speech Therapy: Internet

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many speech and language therapists work in virtual schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally.

Overseas Students: Immigration

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 199286 on Overseas Students: Immigration, what criteria are used to assess whether a student has a recognised connection with the UK.

Chris Skidmore: Generally, to meet the eligibility requirements for student support, a student should be resident in England and have ‘settled’ status. 'Settled' means being ordinarily resident in the UK without any immigration restriction on the length of stay in the UK. An exception to this rule is made for Refugees, Stateless Persons, Persons Granted Humanitarian Protection and those who can demonstrate Long Residence in the UK. To qualify for student support, individuals should normally have been a resident of the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for the 3 years prior to the start of the course. Refugees are exempt from the three year residence requirement.

Free School Meals

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) students and (b) students eligible for free school meals studied GCSE computer science in each year since 2012.

Nick Gibb: The number of pupils[1], in state-funded schools, at the end of Key Stage 4, who entered into GCSE (or equivalent) computer science[2], between 2011/12 – 2016/17[3] are provided in the table below:Pupils[1] in state-funded schools, at the end of Key Stage 4, entered into GCSE (or equivalent) computer science[2], between 2011/12 – 2016/17[3]Academic yearTotal pupils entering computer sciencePercentage of all pupils[4], at the end of Key Stage 4, entering computer scienceEntrants who were eligible for free school meals (FSM)Percentage of entrants that were eligible for FSM2011/12[5]1,5490.3754.82012/133,8350.73318.62013/14[6]15,2132.71,5099.92014/15[7]32,2585.82,9619.22015/1660,41011.26,19110.22016/1767,17512.76,71310.0   [1] Includes state funded pupils.Total number of entries include pupils who were absent, whose results are pending and results which are ungraded or unclassified.[2] Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once and only one entry is counted in these circumstances. Prior to 2014, best entry discounting, where the pupil’s best result is used was in place in performance tables. From 2014 onwards, first entry rules were introduced, where a pupil’s first entry in that subject is used in performance tables. For more information on discounting and early entry, see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-stage-4-qualifications-discount-codes-and-point-scores.[3] All figures are based on final data so will deviate from total entries figures published in the Department's statistical release.[4] In state funded schools.[5] Figures for 2011/12 are based on GCSE entries only and does not include equivalents. Caution should be used when comparing these figures to later years.[6] In 2013/14, two major reforms were implemented which affect the calculation of Key Stage 4 performance measures data: 1) Professor Alison Wolf’s Review of Vocational Education recommendations which; restrict the qualifications counted; prevent any qualification from counting as larger than one GCSE; and cap the number of non GCSEs included in performance measures at two per pupil, and 2) an early entry policy to only count a pupil’s first attempt at a qualification, in subjects counted in the English Baccalaureate.[7] From 2014/15, early entry policy, under which only a pupil’s first attempt at a qualification is counted in performance measures, is extended to all subjects.

Free School Meals

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) students and (b) students eligible for free school meals studied A Level computer science in each year since 2012.

Nick Gibb: The Department has published the number of students entering A level computer studies or computing, split by free school meal (FSM) eligibility, from 2011/12 – 2016/17.[1] Figures for 2011/12 – 2015/16 were based on exam results achieved in the report year. In addition, for 2015/16 figures only include students who were included in the ‘best 3 A levels’ measure. From 2016/17, figures cover exam results achieved in all years of 16-18 studies (up to 3 years) and inclusion in the best 3 A level measure was no longer used in the methodology, resulting in more students being included and correspondingly higher rates of entry. Due to the changes in methodology, neither 2015/16 nor 2016/17 are comparable with other years. The total number and percentage of students entering A level computer studies or computing in each year is provided in the attached tables, as well as the percentage of entrants into each subject who were eligible for FSM. Figures for 2017/18 will be published in the revised publication, at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-attainment-at-19-years on 24 January 2019.  [1] For 2010/11 – 2015/16 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-level-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics. For 2016/17 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results-2016-to-2017-revised (open the ‘A level exam results and A level and vocational participation csv’ and then the ‘A level subjects by characteristics’ file). 



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Ministry of Justice

Prison Officers: Cameras

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on health and safety conditions at HMP Grendon of the decision by HMPPS not to require at least two staff per work area to be issued with body-worn video cameras; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: HMP Grendon is dedicated to providing all prisoners accredited therapy in one of five democratic therapeutic communities. HMP Grendon has a low level of violence and assaults. Theuse of Body Worn Video Cameras was considered carefully and there was belief that this may have a negative impact on therapeutic work that takes place. Body worn video cameras were introduced alongside a range of other measures to improve safety. The cameras are intended to support staff interpersonal skills and provide evidential information if an incident occurs. They are not mandatory, it is for each Governor to make an assessment of how they are deployed. Whilst PSI 14/2017 does not specify how many cameras should be on each residential unit, an instruction was given from HMPPS Headquarters requesting that two staff in each residential units during the hours of unlock wearing BWVC. It is for each prison to consider and determine how they satisfy this instruction whilst taking into account information such as levels of violence and how effectively safety is being managed. In the case of HMP Grendon it is dedicated to providing accredited interventions in therapeutic communities, and promoting rehabilitation and safety. The assessment on level of camera requirement is therefore based on this.

Forensic Science: Misconduct

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of the road traffic cases affected by manipulation of toxicology tests by Randox Testing Services resulted in a custodial sentence being overturned; and how long each of those sentences were prior to the manipulation being discovered.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of the road traffic cases affected by manipulation of toxicology tests by Randox Testing Services resulted in a custodial sentence reduced; and by how much each such sentence was reduced by.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) initial conviction and (b) sentence or penalty was in the road traffic cases overturned under Section 142 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980 as a result of manipulation of forensic testing.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 11 January 2019



The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Immigration: Appeals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average duration of the appeal procedure in 2018 against first-instance decisions was for (a) all nationalities, (b) Syrian appellants, (c) Afghan appellants and (d) Iraqi appellants.

Lucy Frazer: The average clearance time, in weeks, from receipt to disposal of an appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) between January and September 2018, the latest period for which data are available, was: All nationalities42 weeksSyrian nationals138 weeksAfghan nationals132 weeksIraqi nationals122 weeks 1These data are Management Information taken from the tribunal’s case management system. They do not form part of the published statistics. Listing and case management of appeals is a function of the independent judiciary and each appeal is dealt with based on its own individual facts . There are a number of issues that can influence overall case length and these include adjournments and postponements, evidential factors (which may vary according to the country to which the application relates), the ease of gathering evidence, time taken to obtain expert reports where required and availability of up to date country guidance where relevant. Tribunal statistics are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics HM Courts & Tribunals Service has worked extensively to reduce the outstanding caseload and improve timeliness in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. This has seen the live caseload in the First-tier Tribunal more than halve from 64,800 to 31,500 between July 2016 and September 2018. The average duration has also improved from 52 weeks in the period July to September 2017 to 39 weeks in the period July to September 2018.

Young Offender Institutions: Visits

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of young offenders in each Young Offenders Institution were allowed (a) weekly visits, (b) a visit every two weeks and (c) more than one visit a week in the last calendar month for which figures are available.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it is not held centrally.

Prisons: Finance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on the prison estate of the resources allocated to the 10 Prisons Programme.

Rory Stewart: The 10 Prisons Project received an initial £10m of funding to fight drugs, improve security and decency, and bolster leadership capability in the 10 priority prisons. Funding has not been diverted from the wider estate to achieve this, and we do not anticipate that there will be any adverse effects on other prisons. The 10 Prisons Project provides us with an opportunity to test what works and will therefore serve as a template for the wider estate, helping to inform priority areas for future investment and development. Successful interventions will be shared as widely as possible, with these prisons leading the way rather than being the limit of our ambitions.

Prisons: Staff

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of staff shortages by prison in the wider prison estate resulting from resources being deployed as part of the 10 Prisons Programme.

Rory Stewart: There will be no permanent staff shortages in the wider prison estate resulting from resources being deployed as part of the 10 Prisons Project. New posts in the ten prisons are funded from additional resources.When we need temporary deployment of experienced or specialist staff, we have in place a well-established Detached Duty scheme which ensures the prisons sending staff have the necessary resources to do so safely. The 10 Prisons Project is testing new approaches and any staff deployed to support that work will take new skills back to their home establishment.

Prisons: Finance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on additional funding to roll-out the 10 Prisons Programme throughout the prison estate.

Rory Stewart: The 10 Prisons Project is not just about funding, but also about creating – through training, clear expectations and management – a culture which supports and respects prisoners while challenging poor behaviour.It provides us with an opportunity to test a new approach to improving standards and reducing violence in prisons. Lessons learned from the project will help to inform decisions about which interventions should be rolled out across the estate, as well as future discussions with the Chancellor on priority areas for investment.

Prisoners: Veterans

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many armed forces veterans were in prison on 25 December 2018.

Edward Argar: All offenders coming into custody are asked at reception if they have previously served in the Armed Forces. The department publishes this data quarterly and the numbers declaring has remained stable at approximately 3.5% - 4%. Ministry of Justice Experimental Statistics published annually (October 2018) indicated that there were at least 2,032 former members of the Armed Services in prison as at 30 June 2018. Details can be found at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/750708/ex-service-personnel-prison-population-2018.pdf  The Ministry of Justice recognises the unique nature of those who served in the Armed Forces and those prisoners who declare a military background are able to access a range of specialist support, including from military charities who deliver services in prisons.

Prisoners: Compensation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many compensation claims were won by prisoners for loss or damage to their property held by the prison service in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: The information requested for the 2016/17 and 2017/18 financial years can be found in the table below. This is in respect of litigation claims made against public sector prisons in England and Wales and does not include contracted out establishments.The information requested for the period prior to 2016/17 is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.Number of successful litigation claims by prisoners for loss or damage to property 2016-17 and 2017-18 - Public Sector Prisons, England and WalesFinancial YearNumber of successful claims2016/17772017/1860Note:Successful litigation claims are defined as those which were won by the prisoner and those in which HMPPS (and previously NOMS) agreed to settle.

Prisoners: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number and proportion of female prisoners in England and Wales who committed an offence to support the drug use of someone else for which they received a prison sentence in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice does not collect this information. We do not record the reasons behind a crime and only collect information on the offence committed. There are a number of offences that someone can commit to support the drug use of someone else, including theft and drug related offences. There are further barriers to gaining this information as some women may not feel comfortable or safe to disclose this information. In June 2018, we published The Female Offender Strategy which set out a significant programme of work to deliver better outcomes for female offenders at all points of the justice system.

Victim Support: Homicide

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who the 11 organisations are that Victim Support will be working with to provide support for those bereaved by murder and manslaughter.

Edward Argar: On 20th December the Ministry of Justice announced that following a grant funding competition, Victim Support would provide the new Homicide Service in partnership with the following organisations:Advocacy After Fatal Domestic AbuseCALM MediationChild Bereavement UKHundred FamiliesLucie Blackman TrustMINDRemediSAMM NationalShelterSt Giles TrustWinston’s Wish

Wills: Older People

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of people over the age of 70 that have not made a will.

Lucy Frazer: The Secretary of State for Justice has made no estimate. Individuals are not required to notify any third party that they have made a will and there is no central record of whether individuals have left a valid will when they die. The Government provides advice on making a will on the Gov.UK website – www.gov.uk/make-will.

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been engaged in work at Commercial Prison Industries' (a) DHL Workshop, (b) LMB Workshop, (c) Census Data Workshop and (d) Ink2Work Workshop in HMP Berwyn in each of the last three years.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours worked per week is of prisoners working in Commercial Prison Industries' (a) DHL Workshop, (b) LMB Workshop, (c) Census Data Workshop and (d) Ink2Work Workshop in HMP Berwyn.

Rory Stewart: At HMP Berwyn, alongside the DHL workshop, Interserve provide a variety of prison industry workshops to the prisoners. Upon arrival to HMP Berwyn, prisoners are offered the opportunity to engage in educational or vocational courses whilst they are in custody to gain skills and qualifications that better equip them for life once they are released. The DHL Workshop – Offers a capacity of 75 workspaces with the full offering allocated, on average 69 prisoners attend on a sessional basis. This equates to 1864 hours on average a week. Interserve currently provide employment opportunities in the below workshops:The LMB Workshop offers 50 allocated work spaces to prisoner’s with an average of 36 attending on a sessional basis. This equates to 1017 hours on average a week.The Census Data Workshop offer 51 allocated work spaces to prisoners with an average of 39 attending on a sessional basis. This is an average of 1101.75 hours on average a week.The Ink2Work Workshop currently offers a capacity 30 workspaces with an average of 26 attending on a sessional basis. This equates to 847.50 hours on average a week. HMP Berwyn is still increasing its numbers of workspaces provided within the Prison Industry compound and progress is being made throughout 2019 for these to come online.

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents at HMP Berwyn were referred to the police in 2018.

Rory Stewart: At HMP Berwyn, there have been 234 incidents whereby referrals have been made to the North Wales Police from January to December 2018. HMP Berwyn is committed to working with all Criminal Justice partners across Wales to achieve the best outcome to an incident for both the prisoners and staff.

Prisoners: Suicide

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) attempted and (b) succeeded in taking their own lives in each prison in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Rory Stewart: The Government publishes quarterly statistics on deaths in prison custody and a more detailed annual breakdown, and both are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-june-2018 The number of self-harm incidents in each prison can be seen in table 1.13 of Self-Harm in Prison Custody 2004 to 2017, and the number of self-inflicted deaths in each prison is in table 1.16 in Deaths in Prison Custody 1978 to 2017. It should be noted that the statistics refer to self-harm (defined as “any act where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves, irrespective of the method, intent or severity of any injury”), and not to attempted suicide. Although incidents of self-harm may include attempts at suicide, it is hard to determine intent accurately enough for them to be recorded as such. For similar reasons the term “self-inflicted deaths” is used to include any death of a person who has apparently taken their own life, irrespective of intent. This includes not only suicides but also accidental deaths as a result of the person’s own actions. The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep prisoners safe, and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and the incidence of self-harm across the estate. This is why we have established a prison safety programme through which we are taking forward a comprehensive set of actions to improve safety in custody. They include:investing in over 4,300 additional staff in order to deliver consistent, purposeful regimes;improving staff knowledge and understanding of the factors known to increase risk of self-harm, to help them to identify and respond appropriately to prisoners at risk. Our revised introduction to suicide and self-harm prevention training has already reached over 24,000 staff;renewing our partnership with Samaritans by confirming a further three years’ funding for their valuable Listeners Scheme, and working with them to share learning from the ‘Coping with Life in Prisons’ project, a successful pilot initiative in which Samaritans-trained ex-prisoners delivered emotional resilience training to groups of newly-arrived prisoners; andimproving the multi-disciplinary ACCT case management process for those identified as at risk of self-harm or suicide.

Prisoners

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners per 100,000 people in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last six years.

Rory Stewart: The Government does not publish information on the number of prisoners per 100,000 people in England and Wales as part of its statistical releases. However, figures covering the total prison population in England and Wales as at 30 June each year, broken down by establishment, can be found in Table A1.13 of the document “Prison Population: 30 June 2018” at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2018 In addition, the Office for National Statistics publishes mid-year population estimates at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates

Department for International Trade

Exports

John Lamont: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value is of exports of goods and services from the UK which are currently governed by WTO rules.

George Hollingbery: Based on the latest estimates, in 2017 the UK exported £613.4bn in goods and services to WTO members (including special member state territories of the European Union). This trade is subject to both WTO and potentially other preferential trade agreement rules. This accounts for 99.3% of the UK’s total exports of goods and services. Of this total, £101.2bn worth of goods and services were exported to countries that are WTO members but do not, at the time of writing, benefit from any form of preferential or non-MFN trade in any goods or services with the EU-28. This accounts for 16.4% of the UK’s total exports of goods and services. Source: ONS UK trade in services April to June 2018 (NSA) and ONS Monthly UK Trade Statistics, October 2018.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) value of Raytheon Paveway laser-guided bombs that have been approved for export to Saudi Arabia; what proportion of those bombs have been exported under (i) Standard Individual Export Licence and (ii) Ordinary Individual Export Licence in each quarter since June 2015; and at which locations those bombs were manufactured.

George Hollingbery: Exports of Paveway bombs are made under a long-standing Government-to-Government defence cooperation programme between the UK and Saudi Arabia. As such, the UK Government has full oversight of the exports. The UK has issued two licences for the export of Paveway bombs to Saudi Arabia: a Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) in April 2015 and an Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) in March 2014, in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria. Details of these can be found in the published official statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. I am withholding details of the number and value of bombs permitted by the SIEL as disclosure would prejudice commercial interests. OIEL applications do not include values because OIELs are generally not restricted by quantity. We therefore do hold that data. We do not hold figures for the number of weapons exported, nor do we hold information about the locations in which the bombs were manufactured.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much money his Department has allocated for preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal to date; how much of that funding has been made by way of ministerial direction; and for what functions that funding has been allocated.

Jake Berry: My Department is preparing for all EU Exit scenarios. We do not hold any data specifically in relation to the cost of preparation for a no deal scenario.There has been no ministerial direction in relation to EU Exit funding for the Department.HM Treasury announced the funding allocations for EU Exit Preparations in 2019/20 on 18 December. MHCLG received £35 million. Work is ongoing to decide where this money can best be allocated and an announcement will be made shortly.

Neighbourhood Development Plans

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Neighbourhood Plan (General) Regulations 2012, what the average time is between submitting an application for designation of a neighbourhood area and the decision on a plan proposal.

Kit Malthouse: The time taken to produce a neighbourhood plan will depend on its complexity and the resources available within a community. We do not formally monitor the production of neighbourhood plans.

Local Government Finance: Birmingham

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the request made in November 2018 by hon. Members representing Birmingham to meet to discuss his instruction to Birmingham City Council prohibiting further access to its reserves.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 17 January 2019



I have responded to the Rt Hon Member's letter today.

Local Government Finance

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions has his Department has with the Local Government Association on funding for local authorities.

Rishi Sunak: I met representatives from the Local Government Association on 9 January to discuss the 2019-20 provisional local government final settlement. Departmental Ministers maintain regular engagement with the Local Government Association on a range of issues.

Social Rented Housing: Antisocial Behaviour

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) tenants of social housing feel safe and (b) people carrying out antisocial behaviour are reprimanded.

Kit Malthouse: It is crucial that social homes are safe and that appropriate action is taken to tackle anti-social behaviour.We are addressing building safety concerns in light of the Grenfell Tower fire to ensure that residents of higher risk buildings are safe and feel safe now and in the future. As part of our comprehensive response to the fire we have established the Building Safety Portfolio. This has four stages: to identify unsafe buildings, make buildings safe, identify system problems and fix the system.To address wider safety measures in social housing, we consulted on a proposal in our social housing Green Paper to review the Decent Homes Standard to make sure it covers the right issues. We also invited views on whether new safety measures introduced in to the private rented sector should apply in the social rented sector. We plan to set out the Government response to the Green Paper in Spring 2019.We have already taken action to address anti-social behaviour in neighbourhoods. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies including social landlords with a range of flexible powers, to respond quickly and effectively to different forms of anti-social and nuisance behaviour.The Green Paper also included proposals to help tackle anti-social behaviour, including through the introduction of key performance indicators for social landlords in England around anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood management.

Social Rented Housing: Drugs

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department takes steps to tackle the use of drugs in social housing; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: The Department expects social landlords in England to take appropriate action to tackle the use of drugs in social housing and the Regulator of Social Housing requires them to work in partnership with other agencies to prevent and tackle all forms of anti-social behaviour in the neighbourhoods where they own homes.Landlords already have a discretionary ground under the Housing Act 1985 to seek possession against a tenant who has been convicted of using their property or allowing it to be used for immoral or illegal purposes.The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 goes further and includes an absolute ground for possession which makes it easier to evict anti-social tenants who have already been convicted for specific offences including drug-related offences.The Government’s 2017 Drug Strategy sets out a balanced approach which brings together police, health, community and global partners to tackle the illicit drug trade, protect the most vulnerable and help those with a drug dependency to recover and turn their lives around.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Fire Alarms

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has a policy of replacing fire alarms every few years in its properties.

Jake Berry: The facilities management services in buildings managed directly by MHCLG, including maintenance of the fire alarms, are outsourced under facilities management contracts.The fire alarms are maintained by suppliers in a way which ensures that they are effective as means of warning. They replace them when there is a need to do so or at the end of their effective working life.

Telecommunications: Infrastructure

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason the rating assessment for unbundled local copper loops included a concession that was not available to fibre telecommunications infrastructure constructed before April 2017.

Rishi Sunak: The Government has provided a new 100 per cent business rates relief for new fibre infrastructure for a five year period from 1 April 2017 to support the roll out of new fibre broadband infrastructure and future 5G communications to homes and businesses. The relief is provided to support telecom companies as they invest in their fibre network and, therefore, is not available on existing fibre constructed before 1 April 2017.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide a timetable for announcing the Shared Prosperity Fund.

Jake Berry: The Government recognises the importance of reassuring local areas and providing clarity on the future of local growth funding, once we have left the European Union. Therefore we intend to publish our consultation shortly.

Parking Offences: Fines

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to protect vulnerable road users from inappropriate parking penalties in private car parks.

Rishi Sunak: The Government supports Sir Greg Knight's Private Members’ Bill, the Parking (Code of Practice) Bill, which seeks to create an independent code of practice for private parking companies and a single body for parking appeals. If a parking company was to repeatedly break this code, then their access to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data would be blocked. This data includes information on the vehicle keeper, so a company blocked from accessing it would be unable to pursue parking charges. I spoke at the Bill’s Third Reading in the Commons to voice the Government’s support and it has now passed to the House of Lords.

Parking: General Practitioners

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of use of private parking operators by GP surgeries.

Rishi Sunak: GPs are independent contractors, and are responsible for their own premises, as well as any arrangements they make for providing and managing car parking or other aspects of accessing their estate.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2019 to Question 207170 on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, if he will list the (a) engagement events that took place and (b) the region and nation in which they took place.

Jake Berry: Over the past year we have held external stakeholder engagement events with representatives from a breadth of sectors. We spoke to businesses, public bodies, educational institutions, the voluntary and charity sector and rural partnership groups. Events have taken place in regions across the UK in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These stakeholder events form part of a larger programme of engagement, which includes our public consultation which we intend to publish shortly.  To date we have held 22 engagement events which are listed below: Four events in BelfastBristolFour events in CardiffCoventryDerry LondonderryDundeeTwo events in EdinburghGatesheadGlasgowHuddersfieldLondonLoughboroughNorwichPrestonTruroWe are also continuing to engage with stakeholders across all four nations including events in St Asaph, Edinburgh and Inverness in the next month.

Local Government Services: EU Nationals

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2019 to Question 207293 on Local Government Services: EU Nationals, whether carrying out their lives broadly as now includes accessing local authority-provided services.

Rishi Sunak: EU citizens who remain legally in the UK after our exit from the EU will have their rights preserved. This including maintaining the eligibility to access benefits and services like now, including local authority-provided services such social housing and homelessness assistance. If these individuals go on to acquire settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme they will then be able to access benefits on comparable to UK nationals.

Local Government

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues in Cabinet meetings on the effect on local authorities of the UK leaving the EU.

James Brokenshire: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Public Lavatories: Disability

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, who was awarded the £70,000 contract to develop an online map to help carers and disabled people find Changing Places toilets.

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there was a tendering process for the £70,000 contract awarded to develop an online map to help carers and disabled people find Changing Places toilets.

Rishi Sunak: The Department was approached jointly by Mencap and the British Toilet Association Ltd to provide support for a proposal to develop an online map to help carers and disadvantaged people find Changing Places toilets. This was done by means of a grant payment of £74,300 made under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006.

Local Government: Devolution

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish his Department's devolution framework.

Jake Berry: The Government remains committed to setting out our approach to devolution and providing clarity for local areas. We will look to publish our approach as soon as practical.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Coroners

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2018 to Question 185063 on armed forces: coroners, what the timetable is for the consultation on whether to publish those protocols; and if his Department will publish the pre-Section 104 Order protocols between the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defence, the Scottish Government and the Chief Coroner on dealing with military deaths in Scotland separately.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer on this issue as the consultation on publication has not yet taken place. I will write to the hon. Member once that consultation has taken place.

Defence Policy Board

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence he will publish more details on the timescale and implementation for the Defence Policy Board as set out in his Department’s report on the Modernising Defence Programme in December 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Gavin Williamson: The Defence Policy Board will serve the important purpose of bringing outside perspectives and challenge to bear on Defence policy and strategy.Following the publication of the report on the Modernising Defence Programme on 18 December 2018, we are working to establish the Board, including determining membership, and we will shortly be reaching out to prospective members. We expect to establish the Board by the summer, at which point we will publish its membership and terms of reference.

Armed Forces: Housing

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take to resolve the matter of around £25 million a year being allocated from the public purse to rent disused, derelict and abandoned married quarters.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence intends to reduce significantly, the number of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties currently unoccupied through the Void Reduction Plan. This will be achieved via a combination of the following measures: Continuing to sub-let SFA for which there is a known long-term Defence requirement, with the aim of achieving around 3,000 sublets across 100 Defence sites; The release of more than 200 SFA currently supplied through Bulk Lease Hire and Private Finance Initiative arrangements; Releasing 234 SFA at Canterbury and Bordon to Annington Homes in the current financial year (FY); Demolishing 680 SFA, which are no longer required.An annual handback of at least 500 SFA per year to Annington Homes from FY 2019-20 until FY 2026-27 enabled by the Defence Estate Optimisation Programme.

RAF Northolt: Repairs and Maintenance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to upgrade the existing runway and install new Arrestor Beds to comply with military aeronautical authority regulations at RAF Northolt; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: A contract was awarded in October 2018 to refurbish the existing runway and install new arrestor beds at RAF Northolt. Construction works will commence in spring this year and will be completed in autumn. The airfield will be closed during this period to fixed wing aircraft, though rotary operations will continue.During the project's design process, full account is being taken of the Military Aviation Authority's regulations. Once the works are complete, full details will be published in Aeronautical publications and the Defence Aerodrome Manual.

Navy: Reserve Forces

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reservists at each rank are serving on Her Majesty's Ships on operational duty.

Mark Lancaster: There are currently fourteen Royal Navy Reservists serving in Her Majesty’s ships on operational duty. These are broken down as follows:  Rank/Role Lieutenant1Sub-Lieutenant1Leading Hand2Able Seaman10

Republic of Ireland: Armed Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Irish citizens have joined the British armed forces in each of the last 10 years.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Commonwealth citizens have joined the British armed forces in each of the last 10 years.

Mark Lancaster: The numbers of Irish and Commonwealth citizens who have joined the Regular Armed Forces in the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2018 is provided below.  Financial YearIrish Regular PersonnelCommonwealth Regular Personnel2008-09401,4702009-10809702010-11804502011-121006802012-131107202013-14604402014-151001202015-16110902016-17803202017-1860480Total8405,740 Notes:UK Regulars comprises Full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Employed Personnel and Non-Regular Permanent StaffFigures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Figures ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systemic bias

Nigeria: Military Aid

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department is giving to the Nigerian Government to repel attacks by armed insurgents in north-east Nigeria.

Mark Lancaster: Since 2014, the UK has sought to support and enable a Nigerian-led regional response to Boko Haram and related violent extremism in the north-east, doing so in the context of the long-term need to help build capacity of the Nigerian Armed Forces and support Defence Transformation. Some 70 Defence personnel are currently deployed to Nigeria on an enduring basis, and over 800 have deployed to Nigeria on training and advisory tasks since April 2015. This is supported by equipment gifting, places on professional development courses, and a focus on developing Nigerian Command, Staff, and Leadership institutions.

Service Complaints Ombudsman: Staff

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his letter of 15 January 2019 in relation to Question 196768, what steps he is taking to ensure the number of full-time investigation officer posts in the office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman's are fully staffed; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his letter of 15 January 2019 in relation to Question 196768, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of staffing levels in the office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his letter of 15 January 2019 in relation to Question, how many staff in the Service Complaints Ombudsman's office have taken sick leave as a result of stress related illnesses; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his letter of 15 January 2019 in relation to Question 196768, what the average length of investigations held by each full-time investigator was; and how many complaints were received relating to the length of time investigations were taking in the office of the Service Complaint Ombudsman in each quarter from March 2017 to 30 September 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his letter of 15 January 2019 in relation to Question 196768 and with reference to the 122 cases currently unallocated within Service Complaints Ombudsman's office, what plans he has to increase the resources available to that office; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his letter of 15 January 2019 in relation to Question 196768, what (a) the average number of applications made for vacant full-time investigator posts was and (b) the average length of time from a post being advertised and an appointment made was in the office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman from 31 March 2017 to 30 September 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his letter dated of 15 January 2019 in relation to Question 196768, what assessment he has made of the reasons why only a maximum of nine out of the full compliment of 11 full-time investigator posts have ever been filled in the office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman; and whether the problems identified in the United Kingdom Security Vetting agency by the National Audit Office in its report entitled Investigation into national security vetting, published in September 2018, have contributed to the posts being unfilled; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Service Complaints Ombudsman is provided with an annual budget from defence funds which, under the financial delegation given to her, is used to meet all the costs associated with her independent function.The Ombudsman's office is staffed by Civil Servants and all job advertisements are posted on the Civil Service Jobs website at the earliest opportunity. On occasions, it has not been possible to attract sufficiently qualified applicants from within the Civil Service with the necessary skills for investigation officer posts. This has led to jobs being advertised externally, a process which takes significantly longer as it requires necessary security vetting.All posts are subject to the usual churn of staff, some of whom will seek opportunities elsewhere following a two or three-year term. It is, therefore, not surprising that with the establishment of the SCO office in 2015, a number of staff left the Ombudsman's office in the latter part of 2017. Around that time, an internal restructuring was also undertaken which has taken time to bed in.The number of filled investigation officer posts has now increased to ten, with recruitment ongoing for the remaining post plus another that is due to become vacant in April 2019. I am also aware that the Ombudsman is reviewing her staffing requirements. A review of the office's case handling processes, without detriment to quality, will, I understand, form the basis for this.To date, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has responded positively to any requests for additional staff from the Ombudsman, including throughout the period when recruitment in the MOD was subject to severe restrictions, and we will of course be happy to fully consider any further requests.It will take time to collate the detailed information requested on the average length of investigations, recruitment to full-time investigator posts and sick leave. I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Brexit

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money her Department has allocated for preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal to date; how much of that funding has been made by way of ministerial direction; and for what functions that funding has been allocated.

Alok Sharma: HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and the Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as: £412m of additional funding over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office at Autumn Statement 2016.£286m of additional funding for 17/18, a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 17/18: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdfOver £1.5bn of additional funding for 18/19. A full breakdown of the allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on the 13th March: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/Over £2bn of additional funding for 19/20 (of which DWP has been allocated £15 million). A full breakdown of the allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS1205, laid on the 18th December: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/ Preparations have been undertaken by staff as part of their regular duties and we are therefore unable to disaggregate the costs. We will implement our contingency plans following agreement on the nature of our withdrawal. DWP ministers have not issued any directions in relation to EU Exit funding.

Plumbing and Mechanical Services (UK) Industry Pension Scheme

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with Plumbing Pensions (UK) Ltd on its decision to issue section 75 employer debt notices to employers who have participated in the Plumbing & Mechanical Services (UK) Industry Pension Scheme and according to that scheme’s records have triggered a section 75 employer debt; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of businesses affected by the issuing of section 75 employer debt notices by Plumbing Pensions (UK) Ltd to employers who have participated in the Plumbing & Mechanical Services (UK) Industry Pension Scheme and according to that scheme’s records have triggered a section 75 employer debts; and if she will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: The Secretary of State has had no discussions with Plumbing Pensions (UK) Ltd. However, DWP officials have met and continue to engage with the trustees from the scheme and employer representatives. The Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion has met with a number of Employer representatives on this issue. Since 2005 when this area of legislation was strengthened, this particular scheme has not calculated section 75 employer debt for employers affected by this issue. It has therefore not been possible for government to make any reliable estimates of the number of employers who are affected by this issue. The key pressure upon the trustees is to ensure that they carry out a proper calculation so that all parties can then understand the situation.

Employment and Support Allowance: Bristol South

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many ESA50 forms were issued by her Department to residents of Bristol South constituency in each month from June to November 2017.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many ESA50 forms were returned to her Department by residents of Bristol South constituency in each month from June to November 2017.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit: Bristol South

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many UC50 forms were issued by her Department to residents of Bristol South constituency in each month from June to November 2018.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many UC50 forms were returned to her Department by residents of Bristol South constituency in each month from June to November 2018.

Sarah Newton: This information is not readily available at constituency level and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Autism and Learning Disability

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to celebrate the achievements of people with learning disabilities and autism (a) in employment and (b) outside of employment.

Sarah Newton: We are working to celebrate the achievements of people with learning disabilities and autism through our support for events such as last year’s Autism Exchange event ‘Unlocking Potential: Autism and Employability’, which was hosted in Whitehall; the Speaking Out Forum, which supported young people with learning difficulties to learn and demonstrate valuable public speaking skills; and autism-related events with a range of stakeholders such as the Camden Society and National Grid. Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability, published in 2017, sets out the Government’s strategy for helping people with disabilities or health conditions enter and remain in employment, and includes case studies highlighting the achievements of people on the autism spectrum and with learning disabilities. Through the Disability Confident scheme we are working to encourage employers to employ disabled people, including those with a learning disability or autism. There are currently over 10,000 employers signed up to Disability Confident. We are currently delivering the Local Supported Employment proof of concept in partnership with nine Local Authorities. This initiative aims to provide people with learning disabilities and autism, who are known to adult social care, with personalised ongoing support to find and sustain employment.

Escape Rooms: Safety

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the safety of escape rooms in the UK following deaths in a Polish escape room on 6 January 2019.

Sarah Newton: The enforcement of health and safety law in most leisure facilities, including escape rooms, is carried out by Local Authorities. Responsibility for assessing and managing health and safety risks in any business rests with the operator of the business and not the enforcement authority. Enforcement of fire safety legislation in escape rooms is a matter for the local fire and rescue service for that area. The general duty to ensure the safety of members of the public in Great Britain is set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the specific requirement to assess and control risk is contained in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Fire safety responsibilities are contained within The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in England and Wales. In Scotland this is Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, supported by the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulation 2006. Businesses that comply with the relevant legislation will be doing enough to ensure the safety of participants.

Veterans: Mental Illness

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what specific consideration is given to the effect of (a) PTSD and (b) other mental health issues when assessing the needs of veterans.

Sarah Newton: My Department takes its responsibilities to veterans under the Armed Forces Covenant very seriously and has put in place appropriate arrangements to support veterans, including those with PTSD and other mental health issues. For example, when a veteran makes a claim for Employment and Support Allowance we use Service Medical Board evidence wherever possible so that the veterans, including those who may be suffering from PTSD or other mental health issues, do not have to undergo additional examinations. In addition, working with the Ministry of Defence we introduced a specific benefit, the Armed Forces Independence Payment, to provide financial support to service personnel and veterans seriously injured as a result of service to cover the extra costs they may have as a result of their injury. We have also recognised the need for improved training and awareness amongst DWP staff and Providers of such issues, particularly amongst the veteran community. So training on the Armed Forces Covenant and more widely on mental health issues is available to DWP staff. Providers also ensure their health professionals have suitable training. For example, we worked with the Royal British Legion (RBL) to increase awareness of PTSD amongst veterans with Personal Independence Payment assessors and each provider has introduced guidance developed in collaboration with RBL.

Personal Independence Payment

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 20 December 2018, Personal Independence Payment, HCWS 1224, what resources are being redirected from other areas of PIP; and what those other areas are.

Sarah Newton: At the start of the RJ/MH administrative exercise Disability Services redirected a number of experienced people from PIP Reassessments into the administrative exercise. Within PIP those gaps were filled through a combination of recruitment and redeployment from other areas of DWP operations. In addition to the 250 recruited to increase resources, the total number of people redirected onto the administrative exercises was 244.

Universal Credit: Disability

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2019 to Question 206466 on Universal Credit: Disability, what estimate she has made of the cost of providing information on how many people in receipt of the severe disability premium have been naturally migrated onto universal credit since 7 June 2018.

Sarah Newton: To provide an estimate of how many people in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium have been naturally migrated onto Universal Credit since 7 June 2018, would require DWP to link together several complex datasets and take steps to assure the quality of the results. It is estimated that, owing to the time it would take to link the datasets for periods since June 2018, the cost of compiling the requested information is likely to exceed £850.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether auditors from her Department  have the authority to instruct health professionals to make mandatory (a) specific and (b) general amendments to Independent Assessment Service reports.

Sarah Newton: The quality assurance audit process following consultation is in place to ensure that the report the Health Professional provides to the Department is of a high standard. This is a very important part of the process to check the information provided is fully explained and justified.Where assessments have been graded as either ‘acceptable - report amendment required’ or ‘unacceptable’ the reports are returned to the Assessment Provider for remedial activity. Where possible, this activity should be taken by the Health Professional who carried out the original assessment. DWP is not prescriptive on how changes should be made. The Assessment Provider is responsible for ensuring the returned report is then fit for purpose prior to resubmitting it to DWP.

Independent Assessment Services: Audit

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many health professionals from Independent Assessment Services have been (a) dismissed and (b) referred for further training as a result of her Department's audits of health professionals' reports.

Sarah Newton: Independent Assessment Service are committed to providing the highest quality of service to all claimants when conducting a functional PIP assessment and in the preparation of claimant reports for consideration by the DWP. The figures requested is not available as Health Professionals are not dismissed based on the audit of a single assessment report. Audit is one of a number of tools used to monitor the quality of Health Professionals work and to inform ongoing support and performance management. All Health Professionals who have quality issues identified by audit will receive feedback and additional training as a result. Health Professionals who require full retraining to ensure they meet the required quality standards will receive this. Where Health Professionals do not meet the quality requirements on a regular basis, performance management will be taken, which can lead to dismissal.

Jobcentre Plus: Labour Turnover

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobcentre plus staff (a) joined and (b) left employment with jobcentre plus in each of the last four years.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Tumours

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department issues to staff dealing with applications for benefit by people diagnosed with brain tumour; and if she will place a copy of that guidance in the Library.

Sarah Newton: The Department does not issue condition-specific guidance to its benefit processing or decision making staff. Assessment of the impact of health conditions, including brain tumour, is carried out by trained, independent healthcare professionals, who are clinically qualified and have received comprehensive training in disability analysis and identifying the effects that health conditions and impairments can have on individuals.

Universal Credit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to assess the number of eligible applicants who do not complete their application for universal credit.

Alok Sharma: Based on our internal data for March 2018, in total 28 per cent of claims do not complete the process.Of this figure around 8 per cent of claims were closed due to non-entitlement, for example because of capital or not passing the Habitual Residence Test. The remainder (around 19 per cent*) were closed due to non-compliance with the process, for example failure to sign a Claimant Commitment and failing to provide evidence to support their claim.* percentages do not add up to 28 per cent due to rounding

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the total cost to the public purse of the appeals process for personal independence payments assessments in each year since 2010.

Sarah Newton: This information is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Independent Case Examiner

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2019 to Question 206815 on Independent Case Examiner, of the 2,514 cases closed following the High Court decision, how many of those cases related to complaints made on the grounds of maladministration.

Justin Tomlinson: The role of the Independent Case Examiner’s Office (ICE) is to investigate complaints of maladministration (service failure). All of the 2,514 cases closed following the High Court decision to grant permission for a Judicial Review, were complaints of maladministration associated with the way in which changes to women’s State Pension age were communicated.

Universal Credit

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of forthcoming changes to universal credit entitlement for mixed-aged couples on their level of income.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effect on mixed-age couples of the changes to eligibility for pensions credit.

Guy Opperman: This change means that the same work incentives apply to the younger partner as apply to other people of the same age, and that taxpayer support is directed where it is needed most. The difference between the levels of financial support in Universal Credit as compared to Pension Credit and pension-age Housing Benefit, will depend on individual circumstances. The differences reflect the role of Universal Credit in ensuring that work always pays, and of Pension Credit in providing long-term support to those who have permanently left the labour market because of retirement on top of the support also provided by the State Pension. It is for the same reason that the treatment of earned income in Universal Credit is more generous than in Pension Credit. The younger partner in a mixed-age couple receiving Universal Credit will have access to the tailored support provided by work coaches to help them find work or progress in work. No work-related requirements will be applied to the older partner.

Universal Credit: Support for Mortgage Interest

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2019 to Question 207224 on Universal Credit: Support for Mortgage Interest, what assessment he has made of the effect of the zero-earning rule on incentivising people to move into work.

Justin Tomlinson: The zero earnings rule for help with mortgage interest, coupled with generous Universal Credit disregards, ensures that owner occupier claimants have the right incentives to move into work and increase their hours of work over time where possible. Certain owner occupiers receiving Universal Credit who are not also receiving help with their mortgage interest because of the zero earnings rule qualify for the higher earnings disregards that apply to those claimants who have no housing costs. My department has made no formal assessment of the effect of the rule on incentivising people to move into work.

Universal Credit: Support for Mortgage Interest

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2019 to Question 207224 on Universal Credit: Support for Mortgage Interest, what the policy objective is of Support for Mortgage Interest.

Justin Tomlinson: The prime objective of SMI is to provide short-term help for owner-occupiers who have a liability to make mortgage payments and are unable to do so themselves to prevent their home from being repossessed. SMI makes a contribution towards owner-occupier payments (principally mortgage interest payments) in the form of an interest bearing loan to enable claimants to continue making mortgage repayments during periods of unemployment.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much money his Department has allocated for preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal to date; how much of that funding has been made by way of ministerial direction; and for what functions that funding has been allocated.

David Rutley: HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and the Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as: £412m of additional funding over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office at Autumn Statement 2016.£286m of additional funding for 17/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 17/18: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf.)Over £1.5bn of additional funding for 18/19. A full breakdown of the allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on the 13th March.(https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/)Over £2bn of additional funding for 19/20. A full breakdown of the allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS1205, laid on the 18th December.(https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/)In addition to this funding, Defra has redirected staff from its business as usual functions to prepare for our departure from the EU. These preparations cover Defra’s full range of responsibilities and are in readiness for all scenarios including preparations for leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.There were seven ministerial directions across Government between 2016 and 2019, of which four were in relation to EU Exit Costs. On 19 January 2018 Defra published details on GOV.UK of a Ministerial Direction authorising spending of up to £16m for EU Exit preparedness work in advance of Royal Assent of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-exit-preparations-ministerial-direction).

Immigration Controls: Ports

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which ports with regular ferry services to the UK he plans to designate as EU Border Inspection Posts by 29 March 2019.

David Rutley: Border Inspection Posts (BIPs) are commercial ventures set up by ports and airports which are inspected and approved for operation by the relevant Competent Authority and the Commission. Any BIPs at ports with regular ferry services to the UK would be approved by the Competent Authority of that EU Member State, not the Secretary of State.As explained in the Technical Notice on “Importing animals and animal products if there’s no Brexit deal”, consignments originating in the EU will not initially be required to enter the UK through a BIP. For this reason we are not anticipating a significant increase in demand for BIPs at UK ports receiving ferries coming from the EU and have not received any applications for approvals of new BIPs.A full list of current BIP facilities across the EU can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/vet-border-control/bip-contacts_en

Recycling: EU Law

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 190926 on Recycling: EU Law, if he will publish the (a) timetable (b) scope of the proposed consultation on the implementation of the 2018 EU Circular Economy Package.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The government will be consulting during 2019 on many of the measures connected to the Circular Economy Package and our Resources and Waste Strategy.

Environment Protection: Regulation

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to ensure that environmental regulations remain equal to those set by the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government has been clear that we will not only maintain but enhance environmental standards as we leave the EU. The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 will ensure existing EU environmental law continues to operate in UK law once we have left the EU. The UK Government and devolved administrations will amend current legislation to correct references to EU legislation, transfer powers from EU institutions to domestic institutions and ensure we meet international agreement obligations. The UK Government will then have the opportunity, over time and with Parliamentary scrutiny, to ensure the legislative framework for England (and environmental matters that are not devolved) delivers high regulatory standards for the environment and our aim to be the first generation to leave the natural environment in a better state than we inherited it. New primary legislation beyond the EU Withdrawal Act will be required to implement new policies or institutional arrangements that go beyond replicating current EU arrangements in UK law. Any future regulatory alignment with EU law will be dependent on the outcome of future negotiations with the EU.

Manufacturing Industries: Recycling

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to promote the increased use of (a) recyclable and (b) repairable components in manufacturing.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: As set out in our recently published Resources and Waste Strategy, we want the UK to be a world leader in resource efficiency. We want to move away from being a ‘throw-away’ society. A crucial part of that is making products last longer by ensuring they can be readily recycled, repaired or reused.We are supporting measures in the Ecodesign Directive product regulations to encourage repair and re-use of a range of products and have committed to match or where economically practicable exceed this ambition once we leave the EU. We will use similar mechanisms to the current system to drive change in product standards by gradually removing from the market the least repairable products and demanding a certain level of repairability and looking to cover more product groups than those in the EU Ecodesign Directive.

Recycling: EU Law

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) increase recycling to 65 per cent of waste and (b) reduce landfill to 10 per cent of waste in conformity with the  2018 EU Circular Economy Package.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: As announced in the Resources and Waste Strategy, the Government will shortly be consulting on measures to increase recycling from households and businesses, reforms to the packaging regulations and the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers. Together these measures will allow us to achieve 65% recycling by 2035. The Circular Economy Package target is to achieve 10% or less of municipal waste to landfill by 2035. The above package of measures to increase the quality and quantity of recycling will, together with alternative treatments for residual waste, deliver the reduction we need to see in municipal waste being disposed of to landfill.

Domestic Appliances: Repairs and Maintenance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to maintain consumer protections in relation to the right to repair of electrical products after the UK has left the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: As set out in our recently published Resources and Waste Strategy, we want the UK to be a world leader in resource efficiency. We want to move away from being a ‘throw-away’ society. A crucial part of that is making products last longer by ensuring they can be readily repaired or reused. We have committed to match or, where economically practicable, exceed the ambition of the EU’s Ecodesign standards in relation to resource efficiency, by looking to legislate to set product standards for other resource intensive product groups over and above those in the EU Ecodesign Directive. We will explore the role that consumer information, as well as guarantees and warranties, can play in ensuring products stay in use longer and maintain their value.

Animals: Exports

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will ban live animal exports from UK ports in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

David Rutley: Our manifesto commitment made clear that we would take early steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter once we leave the European Union (EU). We are considering all options in the context of our exit from the EU and as part of our broader commitment to further strengthen animal welfare.

Newcastle Disease

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the risk of Newcastle disease in the UK; what advice he is giving to reduce such a risk; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Newcastle Disease is a serious notifiable disease in poultry and other birds, and so Defra monitors this disease globally. There is a continuous low background risk of any notifiable avian disease in the domestic poultry sector in the UK from our indigenous wild bird populations that carry various Newcastle disease viruses. The risk of Newcastle Disease to UK poultry is currently low, particularly so where good biosecurity is practiced by those keeping poultry and other birds. The latest risk assessment is available on gov.uk: www.gov.uk/government/publications/newcastle-disease-in-sweden Guidance is available to all keepers on gov.uk, including how to spot disease and how to prevent it through the use of good biosecurity. This includes vaccinating birds against the disease, for which a local vet should be consulted, and guarding against the potential for spread by ensuring premises and vehicles are cleansed thoroughly.

Ivory: Imports

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to suspend the importation of trophies from ivory-bearing animals such as the hippopotamus until the conclusion of the consultation on adding other species to the Ivory Act 2018.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will conduct a review into the issuing of licences for the importation of hunting trophies.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government takes the conservation of species seriously. The import of hunting trophies from endangered species into the UK is already subject to strict controls. A permit will only be issued if no detrimental impact on the survival of endangered species is demonstrated and the item has been obtained from a legal and sustainable hunting operation. This means imports of certain species from certain countries are currently prohibited because they are considered to be unsustainable. We are looking carefully at this issue and have previously commissioned research by Professor McDonald. We plan to hold a roundtable discussion with organisations from all sides of the debate in order to gain a better understanding of the issues as well as consider any further scientific advice.

Lead: Ammunition

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent research he has commissioned on the effect of the use of lead shot on the environment; and whether he has plans to abolish the use of lead shot.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999 already offer protection for waterfowl. In response to the 2015 report by the independent Lead Ammunition Group, Government concluded there was insufficient evidence to justify a change to the legislation. The Government will consider the evidence review recently undertaken for the European Commission by the European Chemicals Agency before deciding if any changes to the current regulations are required.

Home Office

Violent and Sex Offender Register

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment the Department has made of the ability of the police service to manage caseloads involving registered sex offenders.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can beRegistered sex offenders are managed by the police, who are in the best position to identify the risk posed by individuals. We work with the police on an ongoing basis to ensure they have all the necessary tools to manage sex offenders as effectively as possible in the community.We are very clear that the police are best placed to assess the risk of an offender committing another crime, and they will rightly put the public first. In 2017 the police introduced 'reactive management' allowing resources to be prioritised effectively towards the most dangerous sex offenders. This means each offender will have a personalised risk management plan to reduce the risk they pose to the public.No offender who continues to pose a risk to the public will be subject to reactive management but will continue to be managed closely by the police. If at any point there are any concerns about an offender in reactive management, they will be reverted back to active management.We continue to work with the Police and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for the authorities to tackle sexual crimes and to bring perpetrators to justice.

Visas: Married People

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many premium service spousal visa applications for settlement in the UK have been processed in each month from January 2018 to January 2019.

Caroline Nokes: Information on out of country applications for settlement visas and processing performance against service standards is published in the Migration Transparency data, table Visa01, latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-november-2018 The latest data show the vast majority 97.0% of straightforward cases were dealt with within customer service standards.

Violent and Sex Offender Register

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of home visits that the police have made to registered sex offenders in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.Registered sex offenders are managed in the community by the police, who are best placed to identify their risks and determine how frequently they conduct home visits.In 2017, the police made key changes to their management regime. Officers can now determine the frequency of home visits as part of a personalised risk management plan, instead of visiting all offenders a set number of times based on their risk category. Importantly, success is not measured solely by the completion of home visits, but through careful consideration of a range of factors, including the quality of the risk management plan and their progress in completing actions.We continue to work with the Police and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for the authorities to tackle sexual crimes and to bring perpetrators to justice.

National Police Chiefs' Council

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2019  to Question 203400, whether he has met the NPCC Brexit Implementation Team on contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal in his capacity as Secretary of State.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Secretary meets regularly with senior policing leaders, including, as head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Chief Constable Sara Thornton.Our preferred scenario on security, law enforcement and criminal justice is a new legally binding agreement between the UK and the EU. However, as a responsible Government, we are preparing on a contingent basis for a no deal scenarioAccordingly, we are working closely with the NPCC at a number of levels on these preparations, and regular engagement is on going.

National Police Chiefs' Council: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what requests for additional funding his Department has received from the NPCC Brexit Contingency Planning Team for the safety net model to be implemented in readiness for the UK leaving the EU; and how much additional funding that equates to for each police force area.

Mr Nick Hurd: We have and continue to work closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council on implementing operation safety net to establish the International Crime Co-ordination Centre as part of contingency planning for EU exit.Working with the NPCC, and based on proposals from them, we agreed to allocate £2.4m of additional, national-level funding to the NPCC for this work in 2018/19.

National Police Chiefs' Council: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) officers and (b) staff from (i) police forces, (ii) the National Crime Agency and (iii) the national Criminal Records Office are staffing the Brexit Contingency Planning team; and what assumptions have been made on the number of police officers needed to respond to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Nick Hurd: Ahead of the end of March this year, the International Crime Coordination Centre (ICCC) is recruiting 50 personnel 30 for a central unit in London and 20 regional posts. Of the central posts, six are police staff and the rest are officers.The National Crime Agency and the national Criminal Records Office will have resources embedded within the ICCC (four people and two people respectively).We continue to work closely with our operational partners to understand their resourcing requirements for EU Exit planning and delivery, in the event of either a deal or a no deal scenario.

Home Office: Brexit

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money his Department has allocated for preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal to date; how much of that funding has been made by way of ministerial direction; and for what functions that funding has been allocated.

Caroline Nokes: For the financial year 2018-19, the department has been allocated £395m to continue preparing for the UK to leave the EU. This funding is to cover all scenarios and is being allocated to address Home Office priorities including developing the EU Settled Status scheme and building resilience at the border.No ministerial directions have been issued in relation to this funding.

Refugees: Finance

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the British Red Cross report entitled Still an ordeal: the move-on period for new refugees published in December 2018, if he will increase the period in which refugees continue to receive asylum support after receiving a positive decision on their asylum application to 56 days.

Caroline Nokes: Whilst there are currently no plans to extend the period, the Government is working on a number of important initiatives to ensure that refugees are able to access benefits and housing promptly once their Home Office support ends. We are ensuring that this work takes into account the views of the key voluntary sector groups, including the British Red Cross.

Refugees: Children

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been (a) transferred to the UK and (b) allocated a place but not yet been transferred to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timetable is for the UK to fulfill its commitment on transferring 480 children to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offers of placements his Department has received from local authorities with the capacity to look after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Caroline Nokes: The government remains fully committed to delivering on our commitment to relocate the specified number of 480 children under Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 and we continue to work very closely with participating States -France, Greece and Italy - and local authorities and delivery partners in order to meet this commitment as soon as possible.The Home Office consulted extensively with local authorities to determine the number of unaccompanied children they would be able to support under section 67, in addition to the almost 4,500 unaccompanied asylum seeking children in the care of local authorities across the country. In October 2018, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the consultation to determine the specified number was lawful.Over 220 unaccompanied children have been transferred to the UK, and transfers of eligible children are ongoing. We will not provide a running commentary on numbers and will publish the details once all children are in the UK.On 20 December 2018, the Government announced our decision to remove the date criterion for the referral of unaccompanied children in Europe to be relocated to the UK under section 67. This means that participating States are now able to refer the most vulnerable children whose best interests are served by relocation to the UK, regardless of when they arrived into Europe. We are confident that this change will support an increase the rate of referrals from participating States.Once an eligible child is referred, the Home Office conducts relevant security checks and seeks to identify an appropriate local authority care placement that takes into account each individual child’s specific needs. Home Office officials continue to work closely with local authorities to identify available care placements for children relocated to the UK under this commitment, as well as those transferred to the UK under our resettlement schemes and between local authorities under the National Transfer Scheme.

Police: Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police working dogs have been successfully re-homed in the last five years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not collect this information centrally. All operational decisions on the use and deployment of police dogs, including decisions regarding the rehoming of police dogs, are made on a force by force basis and are a matter for chief constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners.

Children: Advocacy

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children are currently supported by Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTA); and what was the (a) mean average, (b) longest and (c) shortest period of time between a child being identified as trafficked and being allocated an ICTA.

Victoria Atkins: An interim assessment of the first year of the Independent Child Trafficking Advocate (ICTA) service (February 2017 – January 2018) and associated data tables were published in July 2018 and can be found: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-assessment-of-independent-child-trafficking-advocates-interim-findingsData on the number of referrals split by early adopter site is published in Ta-ble A1, and on the timeliness of referrals in B1. Data on referrals between February 2018 and January 2019 will be published in a final report in Spring 2019.

Visas: Overseas Students

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to review the option of introducing a post-study work visa allowing up to two years of work experience for international students in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The independent Migration Advisory Committee’s report on international students, published in September 2018, recommended against the introduction of a separate post-study work visa. The report also made several positive recommendations with regard to the current post-study work offer.As set out in the Immigration White Paper, published last month, under the new student route all students studying at a Masters’ level, or at Bachelors’ level at an institution with degree awarding powers, will be eligible for a six-month post study leave period. Doctoral students will be eligible for a 12-month post study leave period. This will benefit tens of thousands of international students by providing them with more time to gain valuable experience or find employment in the UK in accordance with the skilled work migration routes.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the current system of credibility interviews within the student immigration system is (a) cost-effective relative to current risk and (b) does not hinder universities’ ability to recruit a diverse range of students.

Caroline Nokes: An internal review of point of application credibility interviews for internation-al students was conducted in 2018 to ensure that interviews are adding value to the case consideration process and not unnecessarily inconveniencing customers. Up to date risk information was factored in to this review.Regular engagement with universities and other educational institutions ensures that feedback is collected in relation to the application process.

Educational Testing Service: Contracts

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date his Department awarded ETS a contract to undertake English language tests for overseas students.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what arrangements his Department has put in place to monitor performance on the contract awarded to ETS to undertake English language tests for overseas students.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many bidders were considered by his Department in the procurement exercise which led to a contract being awarded to ETS to undertake English language tests for overseas students.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value was of the contract awarded to ETS to undertake English language tests for overseas students.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Affairs Committee inquiry into the Home Office's use of English-language testing in relation to the issuing of visas, with particular reference to its handling of recent allegations involving English-language test centres, can be found in the following links.Question 60, contains information requested in PQ 209280: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/english-language-testing/written/36541.pdfAnnex C contains information requested in PQ 209281:http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/english-language-testing/written/36543.pdfQuestion 25 in the following link contains information requested in PQ 209282:http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/english-language-testing/written/33662.pdf

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Ross Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will commission an independent review of the (a) adequacy, (b) cost effectiveness and (c) effect on the diversity of students of credibility interviews within the student immigration system.

Caroline Nokes: An internal review of point of application credibility interviews for interna-tional students was conducted in 2018 to ensure that interviews are adding value to the case consideration process and not unnecessarily inconven-iencing customers. Up to date risk information was factored in to this review. Regular engagement with universities and other educational institutions en-sures that feedback is collected in relation to the application process.

National County Lines Coordination Centre: Staff

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 10 January 2019 and 9 October 2018 to Questions 205811 and 173497, if he will publish a breakdown of the number of (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff at the National County Lines Coordination Centre.

Victoria Atkins: The National County Lines Co-ordination Centre is a joint initiative be-tween the National Crime Agency and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, supported by £3.6m of Home Office funding. It is one of our key commitments set out in the Serious Violence Strategy. The Centre is fully operational and has around 40 staff in post. The Home Of-fice is not involved in the set up and running of the Centre as it is an op-erational matter for the NCA and police, and does not hold information about staffing breakdown.

Refugees: Graduates

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of people with refugee status in the UK who are graduates.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of people in the UK with refugee status who are qualified doctors in their home country.

Caroline Nokes: Information on the number of people in the UK with refugee status who are qualified doctors in their home country and those who are graduates are not recorded and held in a reportable formatThis could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.However, the information relating to the number of people with refugee status in the UK can be found in tab as_01_q at volume 1 of the Asylum ap-plications and initial decisions for main applicants, by country of nationality:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018/list-of-tables#asylum

Asylum: Housing

Fiona Onasanya: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what are the minimum standards of (a) physical accommodation and (b) assistance G4S are required to provide to asylum seekers under the terms of their contract with the Home Office.

Caroline Nokes: All accommodation providers are required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation that complies with the Decent Homes Standard in addition to standards outlined in relevant national or local housing legislation. Where providers are found not to meet these standards, appropriate action is taken to hold providers to account and resolve concerns.Accommodation providers are also contractually required to take account of any particular circumstances and vulnerability of those that they transport and accommodate. The definition of vulnerability in the contracts is the same as the one set out in the 2005 Regulations. The particular circumstances of other supported asylum seekers and their dependants who may have other particular vulnerabilities are also carefully considered, for example because they have care needs or health problems that require a need for a specific type of accommodation or accommodation in a particular location.Further details regarding these policies can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-accommodation-requests-policyhttps://horizon.fcos.gsi.gov.uk/file-wrapper/asylum-seekers-care-needs https://horizon.fcos.gsi.gov.uk/file-wrapper/healthcare-needs-and-pregnancy-dispersal-guidanceThe statement of Requirements for the services delivered by the accommoda-tion providers can be found at;https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/503107/

*No heading*

Jamie Stone: What plans his Department has to maximise opportunities for qualified EU health workers to work in the NHS after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: I appreciate the valuable contribution that non-UK workers make to our NHS.The Immigration White Paper emphasised that we will encourage the highly skilled and those that make a valuable contribution to our country to come and work in the UK.But we need a balanced approach, because it is not a sustainable strategy to rely on recruiting overseas staff, and the long-term aim is that we train our own health professionals in this country.

*No heading*

Gavin Newlands: What recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on his Department’s priorities.

Sajid Javid: My Department’s priority will always be the safety and security of the nation.The Home Office has sufficient resources in place, through external recruitment and internal redeployment to support the delivery of a smooth and orderly exit from the EU and continue to keep the nation safe and secure.We conduct regular reviews of our total resource demand for both deal and no deal to support this.

*No heading*

Julian Knight: What steps he is taking to tackle domestic abuse.

Victoria Atkins: Today we have launched a ground-breaking series of measures to promote awareness, support victims, tackle perpetrators and improve services.We have also published a package of non-legislative actions that will see further support for children affected by domestic abuse, the elderly, disabled, male and migrant victims and those in the LGBTQ community.Ending domestic abuse remains an absolute priority for this government.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Health Services

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on facilitating health professionals in England to travel to low and middle income countries to provide healthcare education and training; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for International Development has not discussed this directly with the present Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (DHSC). It was discussed with his predecessor at DHSC and focused on how DFID and DHSC can work together to promote international health partnerships and schemes that share the expertise of UK health professionals. These partnerships address global health challenges and promote Global Britain. DFID and DHSC work closely on programmes that facilitate these partnerships for UK health professionals to provide healthcare education and training in low and middle-income countries. We also collaborate on schemes that bring health professionals from low and middle-income countries to both learn from UK healthcare professionals and contribute to the delivery of NHS services.

Developing Countries: Mental Health Services

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to improve mental health provision in low and middle income countries.

Alistair Burt: DFID is committed to taking a comprehensive and rights-based approach to mental health in low and middle-income countries. Our Disability Inclusion Strategy sets out how UK Aid will step up its work to promote well-being, increase access to integrated, quality mental health services, and facilitate recovery, empowerment and societal inclusion for people with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities. In Ghana, DFID’s Health Sector Support Programme has supported the integration of quality mental health into broader health systems and addressed stigma and discrimination. DFID’s Improving Mental Health Care programme is generating world-leading evidence on integrating effective mental health care services into primary care in Ethiopia, India, Nepal, South Africa and Uganda. DFID’s support to the Disability Rights Fund, enables organisations led by people with psychosocial disabilities to champion their rights.

Department for International Development: Public Bodies

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff at the (a) Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, (b) Independent Commission for Aid Impact and (c) Government Equalities Office that work (i) inside and (ii) outside Greater London are paid at a rate below the London Living Wage.

Alistair Burt: There are no staff employed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact and the Government Equalities Office who are paid at a rate below the London Living Wage.

Department for International Development: Public Bodies

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff at the (a) Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, (b) Independent Commission for Aid Impact and (c) Government Equalities Office that work (i) inside and (ii) outside Greater London are paid at a rate below the Real Living Wage.

Alistair Burt: There are no staff employed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact and the Government Equalities Office who are paid at a rate below the Real Living Wage.

Nigeria: Internally Displaced People

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional aid she will make available to support civilians forced to flee their homes to Monguno and Maiduguri following recent attacks by armed insurgents in north-east Nigeria.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development is deeply concerned by the recent attacks in northern Borno and is committed to providing support to those who have been forced to flee their homes. Our partners are increasing their assistance in Maiduguri and Monguno to make sure that newly displaced people have rapid access to food, shelter, healthcare, protection, and water. DFID is one of the largest donors to the World Food Programme’s emergency operation in Nigeria, which is scaling up to provide cash and food assistance to new arrivals. My team is closely monitoring new needs and will continue to flex our existing £300 million humanitarian programme to provide assistance. DFID and FCO officials met with the Vice President of Nigeria last week to stress the importance of ensuring access to humanitarian assistance for newly displaced people.

Palestinians: Schools

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2018 to Question 200063 on Palestinians: Schools, whether her Department has commissioned the study into the new Palestinian textbooks referred to in that answer.

Alistair Burt: The UK government is deeply concerned about the findings of the IMPACT-se report into the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) new curriculum and it remains a priority for the Department for International Development (DFID) to commission an independent review of the PA’s textbooks. I personally will be meeting with the PA’s Minister for Education to discuss these issues this week. Our timeline for the textbook review remains unchanged. We will publish findings from the review by September 2019. The UK has been convening discussions with potential international partners on commissioning the review together, in order to increase the impact of the study. We will commission the review once we have concluded these discussions. We will publish further information once the assessment has been commissioned.

Syria: Refugees

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the health and well being of displaced Syrian refugees living in refugee camps during periods of adverse weather conditions.

Alistair Burt: The UK continues to support the most vulnerable Syrian refugees across the region, including with health and wellbeing needs, spending over £1.2 billion since 2012 to support the over 5.6 million refugees across Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. DFID is providing support to those refugees worst affected by adverse weather conditions this winter, including cash transfers to over 50,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees across Lebanon. This has supported refugees in areas most affected by winter storms, allowing them to prepare for adverse weather conditions by buying fuel, warm clothing and insulation for their homes. DFID is also the leading contributor to the Start Fund, which has disbursed over £300,000 so far in response to the flooding in Lebanon this winter. Since 2017, our partnership with Save the Children in Lebanon has included improvements to 67 flood-prone refugee settlements, mitigating the impact of the recent storm in many sites. In Iraq, DFID provides central funding to UNHCR who provide heaters, high thermal blankets and plastic sheeting to Syrian refugees.

Scotland Office

Food Banks: Scotland

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he plans to visit a food bank in February 2019.

David Mundell: I currently have no plans to visit a food bank in my capacity as Secretary of State for Scotland in February 2019.

Cabinet Office

Honours

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether in the past 24 months the Queen has declined any of the the Forfeiture Committee’s recommendations for the forfeiture of a person's honour.

Chloe Smith: Recommendations that the recipient of an honour should forfeit their award are made by the independent Honours Forfeiture Committee, which refers its recommendations, via the Prime Minister, to Her Majesty The Queen, acting on the advice of Her Ministers. In the past two years, the Forfeiture Committee’s recommendations that forfeiture should take place have all been approved.

Lord-lieutenants: Expenditure

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much money from the public purse was spent by each of the Lords Lieutenants on (a) travel, (b) hospitality, (c) clothing and (d) other costs in each year since 2008.

Chloe Smith: The Cabinet Office publishes total Lord Lieutenancy Expenditure as part of its Annual Financial Accounts. Therefore the total amount of money from the public purse spent by Lord-Lieutenants on their expenses each year, dating back to 2008, is publicly available online using the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts The information requested on travel, hospitality, clothing and other costs for each Lieutenancy could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Lord-lieutenants: Ethnic Groups

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Lords Lieutenants have an ethnicity other than white British.

Chloe Smith: The Cabinet Office does not hold this information centrally.

Royal Warrants

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many royal warrants are extant for (a) HM The Queen, (b) the Duke of Edinburgh and (c) the Prince of Wales.

Chloe Smith: Government ministers are not involved in the process of awarding or withdrawing royal warrants. Information on the awarding of warrants can be found on the Royal Household's website or requested from the Lord Chamberlain's Office.

Royal Warrants

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the process is to determine whether to grant a request for a royal warrant.

Chloe Smith: Government ministers are not involved in the process of awarding or withdrawing royal warrants. Information on the awarding of warrants can be found on the Royal Household's website or requested from the Lord Chamberlain's Office.

Royal Warrant Holders Association

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what procedure is in place to ensure that members of the Royal Warrant Holders Association do not use their membership of that body to disadvantage competitors in their personal business dealings or otherwise act to advantage themselves.

Chloe Smith: Government ministers are not involved in the process of awarding or withdrawing royal warrants. Information on the awarding of warrants can be found on the Royal Household's website or requested from the Lord Chamberlain's Office.

Royal Household: Royal Warrants

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether goods obtained by the Royal Household from Royal Warrant holders are obtained at the normal commercial rate.

Chloe Smith: Government ministers are not involved in the process of awarding or withdrawing royal warrants. Information on the awarding of warrants can be found on the Royal Household's website or requested from the Lord Chamberlain's Office.

Royal Warrants

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Royal Warrants have been withdrawn in each year since 2008; and if he will list those that have been withdrawn.

Chloe Smith: Government ministers are not involved in the process of awarding or withdrawing royal warrants. Information on the awarding of warrants can be found on the Royal Household's website or requested from the Lord Chamberlain's Office.

Vijay Patel

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he had discussions with the Honours committees in advance of the OBE appointment of Vijay Patel in the New Year’s Honours list 2019.

Chloe Smith: The honours system is independent. Recommendations are made by one of ten independent expert committees, with independent chairs and a majority of independent members, who assess the merits of all nominations. More details about the process can be found at www.gov.uk/honours.

Unemployed People: Speech and Language Disorders

Geraint Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young unemployed people have speech, language and communication needs.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 69.04 KB)

Business: Northern Ireland

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect on business confidence in Northern Ireland of the backstop provisions in the Government's proposed EU Withdrawal Agreement.

Mr David Lidington: The Northern Ireland Protocol guarantees that even in the event that the UK’s future relationship with the EU is not in place by the end of the implementation period, there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and no splitting of the UK’s customs territory. In so doing, the agreement preserves the economic and constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom, upholds the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, and ensures people and businesses that rely on an open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland can continue living their lives and operating as they do now.Northern Ireland’s business community, in particular, has been very supportive of the deal. More than 93% of Manufacturing Northern Ireland members back this deal, as do other business and farming representative bodies such as the Federation of Small Business, the Institute of Directors and the Ulster Farmers’ Union.

Treasury

Treasury: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January to Question 205796 on Treasury: Brexit, when his Department plans to publish the data transparency releases referred to in that answer.

Robert Jenrick: All spending over £25,000 is published in line with current guidance on a monthly basis.

Public Expenditure: Scotland

Deidre Brock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding allocation Scotland will receive as a result of Barnett formula determinations on spending in preparation for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government has provided more than £4.2 billion of additional funding to prepare for EU Exit since 2016, including over £2 billion for core activities in 2019-20 for deal and no deal scenarios.The 2019-20 allocations were announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 18 December 2018, with the Scottish Government allocated £54.7m through the Barnett Formula.This follows the Scottish Government’s £37.3m Barnett-based allocation from a £1.5 billion fund in 2018-19.

British Telecom: Broadband

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, from what date was BT’s Next Generation Access lines assessed separately for business rates from the rest of the BT network.

Mel Stride: The independent Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for the valuation of non-domestic properties for business rates purposes in England and Wales. The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 restricts VOA from providing specific information to protect ratepayer confidentiality.

Import Duties

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of an increase in non-tariff barriers on consumer prices in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mel Stride: On 28 November 2018, the government published a robust assessment of how exiting the EU may affect the UK economy in the long-run, detailing the effects on GDP, GDP per capita, exports and imports across four scenarios. This analysis is available on gov.uk. While the analysis does not seek to assess the effect of non-tariff barriers on consumer prices specifically, the lower GDP in the modelled no deal scenario compared to today's arrangements reflects the combined impact of trade frictions, including non-tariff barriers, on households' purchasing power as well as on firms' gross output and their productivity. The White Paper scenario would deliver significantly higher economic output compared to no deal.

Loans

Kate Hollern: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to protect consumers from high risk pay-day loans.

John Glen: On 1 April 2014, regulation of the consumer credit market, including payday lenders, was transferred to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The government has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers and to take action against firms and individuals that do not meet its standards. In 2017, the FCA issued total fines of £229 million. The government legislated to require the FCA to introduce a cap on the cost of payday loans, which came into force on 2 January 2015. The FCA published a feedback statement in July 2017, showing that the price cap has been effective, leading to savings of approximately £150 million for 760,000 individuals using payday loans each year.

VAT: Electronic Government

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2019 to Question 207321, for what reasons that answer did not provide an estimate of what proportion of eligible businesses the 4000 companies now in scope for making tax digital represents.

Mel Stride: Further to my response on 15 January 2019 to PQ 207321, daily take-up during this pilot stage has now increased to over 200 businesses a day, and total take-up has increased to over 6,000. As set out in my previous response, a key objective of this pilot stage is to ensure that full testing is undertaken with the full range of mandated business types, so that improvements to the service and customer support model can be made where necessary. The technical aspects of the service have been rigorously tested to date with a cross-section of business types, including specific trades, representative of the wider business population. While we expect take-up to increase further in the run-up to the mandation date, it would be misleading for the reasons set out in my previous response for that to be the sole focus. At this stage, in line with expectations and plans, take-up is a small but growing proportion of the overall mandated population of 1.1 million. HMRC is continuing to issue letters to all businesses in scope inviting them to join early, alongside a range of other communications activity, which is increasing participation in the pilot. HMRC’s assessment is that progress with take-up across the range of business types and other delivery activity is on track to be ready to mandate the service for VAT periods which start on or after 1 April 2019. The Government has continued to engage with stakeholders and listen to their concerns about business readiness. In October I announced a 6 month delay for those customers with the most complex requirements, to ensure there is sufficient time for testing the service with them in the pilot before they are mandated to join from 1 October 2019.

Football Pools: Excise Duties

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the (a) finances and (b) usage of the football pools of the reduction in the pools duty from 15 per cent  to one per cent.

Robert Jenrick: Pool Betting Duty raises around £4m in revenue for the Exchequer per year. Cutting Pool Betting Duty to 1% could pose a risk to the public finances from a reduction in General Betting Duty revenue as bookmakers would have an incentive to switch their products from fixed odds bets to pools bets. It is unlikely to increase usage of the football pools which has been in long term decline due to the poplularity of other gambling products.

Football Pools: Excise Duties

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on reducing the Pools Duty to 10 per cent, and if he will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: All taxes are kept under review as part of the normal Budget process. As part of this stakeholders can make representations, which form part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s considerations.

Loan Guarantee Scheme

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that loans provided (a) under English law and (b) by UK-based companies to (i) governments and (ii) with government guarantees are publicly disclosed when they are given.

Elizabeth Truss: UK-based lenders are subject to prudential disclosure requirements under UK prudential and accounting law. This includes loans made to foreign governments. Compliance with these requirements are independently assessed by the relevant UK regulator during their supervisory activities. Given the complex international nature of sovereign debt, we continue to believe that internationally-agreed approaches are the most effective way to promote sovereign debt transparency. The UK supports the IMF and World Bank’s efforts to improve capacity and capabilities of sovereign borrowers. The UK recognizes that creditors also have an important role to play in securing debt transparency and sustainability. The UK is working through the G20 to monitor an industry-led initiative by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) to improve the transparency of lending of private creditors.

Brexit: Northern Ireland

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the effect on (a) GDP and (b) wages in Northern Ireland of  the backstop provisions contained in the Government's proposed EU Withdrawal Agreement.

Mel Stride: As set out in the Chancellor’s letter to the Treasury Select Committee on the 3rd January, there is not yet sufficient specificity on detailed arrangements of the backstop for modelling purposes, and therefore an estimate of the effect on a) GDP and b) wages for Northern Ireland has not been made.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Film: Equality

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) financial effect and (b) effect on diversity in the film industry of the Film Diversity Action Group's November 2018 recommendation that a Diversity Monitor be set up to track diversity data across individual productions, sectors and segments of that industry and to publish its results quarterly.

Margot James: Government and industry recognise the need to improve the collection of diversity data in the film industry as well as the wider creative industries to inform interventions to promote diversity and inclusion. DCMS is working with its arm’s length body for film and moving image, the BFI, on promoting and monitoring diversity. The joint government-industry Creative Industries Council is working to improve the monitoring of diversity data across the creative industries as part of its growth strategy.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister: Brussels

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Prime Minister, what estimate she has made of the total emissions created by her flights to Brussels since 1 October 2018.

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Prime Minister, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of air travel by the Prime Minister to Brussels since (a)1 October 2018 and (b) 11 December 2018.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the Hon. Lady to the answer to I gave the Hon. Lady for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) on 17 December 2018, UIN 201271 and on 14 January 2019, UIN 205393

Poverty: Ministerial Responsibility

Kate Hollern: To ask the Prime Minister, if she will appoint a Minister with responsibility for poverty and hunger.

Mrs Theresa May: This Government is committed to helping people improve their lives, while providing the right support for those who need it. In particular my Rt Hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are responsible for a wide range of actions in support of this.

Wylfa Power Station

Chris Ruane: To ask the Prime Minister, if she will publish the minutes of her meeting with Japanese Prime MInister Shinzō Abe on 10 January 2019 on the proposed Wylfa Newydd power plant.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer, my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy gave to the Hon. Member in the Oral Statement on the Nuclear Update on 17 January 2019, Column 1351.